UK bank holidays 2026–2028
Every official bank holiday date, the long weekend it already gives you, and how few days of annual leave turn it into a proper break. Dates come straight from the government's own published list. Where we have a real fare for that month from an airport serving the UK, we show it — and where we don't, we show nothing rather than a guess.
The next one
Christmas Day is Friday 25 December 2026 — 80 days away.
It makes a 4-day weekend on its own, Friday 25 December to Monday 28 December 2026. Book 1 more day and it becomes 5.
Christmas Day and Boxing Day — Friday 25 December to Monday 28 December 2026
| Book | You get | Days to book |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day off | 5 days in a row | Thursday 24 December |
| 2 days off | 6 days in a row | Wednesday 23 December, Thursday 24 December |
| 3 days off | 10 days in a row | Tuesday 29 December, Wednesday 30 December, Thursday 31 December |
| 4 days off | 11 days in a row | Thursday 24 December, Tuesday 29 December, Wednesday 30 December, Thursday 31 December |
Planning a trip around it? For what stays open over the 24th to the 26th, see where to spend Christmas 2026 away from home.
Best weather of our destinations in December 2026
- DubaiUnited Arab Emirates27°C average highfrom €126 one way, departing that month
- LuxorEgypt25°C average high
- Sharm el-SheikhEgypt25°C average highfrom €76 one way, departing that month
- Marsa AlamEgypt25°C average high
- HurghadaEgypt24°C average highfrom €64 one way, departing that month
- CairoEgypt23°C average highfrom €100 one way, departing that month
New Year’s Day — Friday 1 January 2027
| Book | You get | Days to book |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day off | 4 days in a row | Thursday 31 December |
| 2 days off | 5 days in a row | Wednesday 30 December, Thursday 31 December |
| 3 days off | 10 days in a row | Tuesday 29 December, Wednesday 30 December, Thursday 31 December |
| 4 days off | 11 days in a row | Thursday 24 December, Tuesday 29 December, Wednesday 30 December, Thursday 31 December |
Best weather of our destinations in January 2027
- Marsa AlamEgypt23°C average high
- LuxorEgypt22°C average highfrom €110 one way, departing that month
- DubaiUnited Arab Emirates24°C average highfrom €141 one way, departing that month
- Sharm el-SheikhEgypt22°C average highfrom €100 one way, departing that month
- TenerifeSpain22°C average highfrom €45 one way, departing that month
- HurghadaEgypt21°C average high
Good Friday and Easter Monday — Friday 26 March to Monday 29 March 2027
| Book | You get | Days to book |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day off | 5 days in a row | Thursday 25 March |
| 2 days off | 6 days in a row | Wednesday 24 March, Thursday 25 March |
| 3 days off | 7 days in a row | Tuesday 23 March, Wednesday 24 March, Thursday 25 March |
| 4 days off | 10 days in a row | Monday 22 March, Tuesday 23 March, Wednesday 24 March, Thursday 25 March |
Planning a trip around it? Easter is early in 2027, so warmth varies a lot by destination — see where is warm for a March–April 2027 break.
Best weather of our destinations in March 2027
- Sharm el-SheikhEgypt26°C average highfrom €111 one way, departing that month
- Marsa AlamEgypt25°C average high
- LuxorEgypt29°C average high
- CairoEgypt25°C average high
- DubaiUnited Arab Emirates28°C average highfrom €244 one way, departing that month
- HurghadaEgypt24°C average high
Early May bank holiday — Monday 3 May 2027
| Book | You get | Days to book |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day off | 4 days in a row | Friday 30 April |
| 2 days off | 5 days in a row | Thursday 29 April, Friday 30 April |
| 3 days off | 6 days in a row | Wednesday 28 April, Thursday 29 April, Friday 30 April |
| 4 days off | 9 days in a row | Tuesday 4 May, Wednesday 5 May, Thursday 6 May, Friday 7 May |
Best weather of our destinations in May 2027
- LimassolCyprus27°C average highfrom €183 one way, departing that month
- Tel AvivIsrael26°C average high
- Ayia NapaCyprus26°C average highfrom €183 one way, departing that month
- LarnacaCyprus26°C average highfrom €183 one way, departing that month
- AmmanJordan26°C average high
- ProtarasCyprus26°C average highfrom €183 one way, departing that month
Spring bank holiday — Monday 31 May 2027
| Book | You get | Days to book |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day off | 4 days in a row | Friday 28 May |
| 2 days off | 5 days in a row | Thursday 27 May, Friday 28 May |
| 3 days off | 6 days in a row | Wednesday 26 May, Thursday 27 May, Friday 28 May |
| 4 days off | 9 days in a row | Tuesday 1 June, Wednesday 2 June, Thursday 3 June, Friday 4 June |
Best weather of our destinations in May 2027
- LimassolCyprus27°C average highfrom €183 one way, departing that month
- Tel AvivIsrael26°C average high
- Ayia NapaCyprus26°C average highfrom €183 one way, departing that month
- LarnacaCyprus26°C average highfrom €183 one way, departing that month
- AmmanJordan26°C average high
- ProtarasCyprus26°C average highfrom €183 one way, departing that month
Summer bank holiday — Monday 30 August 2027
| Book | You get | Days to book |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day off | 4 days in a row | Friday 27 August |
| 2 days off | 5 days in a row | Thursday 26 August, Friday 27 August |
| 3 days off | 6 days in a row | Wednesday 25 August, Thursday 26 August, Friday 27 August |
| 4 days off | 9 days in a row | Tuesday 31 August, Wednesday 1 September, Thursday 2 September, Friday 3 September |
Best weather of our destinations in August 2027
Christmas Day and Boxing Day — Saturday 25 December to Tuesday 28 December 2027
| Book | You get | Days to book |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day off | 5 days in a row | Friday 24 December |
| 2 days off | 6 days in a row | Thursday 23 December, Friday 24 December |
| 3 days off | 10 days in a row | Wednesday 29 December, Thursday 30 December, Friday 31 December |
| 4 days off | 11 days in a row | Friday 24 December, Wednesday 29 December, Thursday 30 December, Friday 31 December |
Best weather of our destinations in December 2027
- DubaiUnited Arab Emirates27°C average high
- LuxorEgypt25°C average high
- Sharm el-SheikhEgypt25°C average high
- Marsa AlamEgypt25°C average high
- HurghadaEgypt24°C average high
- CairoEgypt23°C average high
New Year’s Day — Monday 3 January 2028
| Book | You get | Days to book |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day off | 4 days in a row | Friday 31 December |
| 2 days off | 5 days in a row | Thursday 30 December, Friday 31 December |
| 3 days off | 10 days in a row | Wednesday 29 December, Thursday 30 December, Friday 31 December |
| 4 days off | 11 days in a row | Friday 24 December, Wednesday 29 December, Thursday 30 December, Friday 31 December |
Best weather of our destinations in January 2028
- Marsa AlamEgypt23°C average high
- LuxorEgypt22°C average high
- DubaiUnited Arab Emirates24°C average high
- Sharm el-SheikhEgypt22°C average high
- TenerifeSpain22°C average high
- HurghadaEgypt21°C average high
Good Friday — Friday 14 April 2028
| Book | You get | Days to book |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day off | 5 days in a row | Thursday 13 April |
| 2 days off | 6 days in a row | Wednesday 12 April, Thursday 13 April |
| 3 days off | 7 days in a row | Tuesday 11 April, Wednesday 12 April, Thursday 13 April |
| 4 days off | 10 days in a row | Monday 10 April, Tuesday 11 April, Wednesday 12 April, Thursday 13 April |
Best weather of our destinations in April 2028
Scotland and Northern Ireland have different dates
The dates above are for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland keep their own lists — Scotland has 2 January and St Andrew's Day and does not take Easter Monday; Northern Ireland adds St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne. A full calendar year, division by division — not what's left to come, see the list above for that:
- 2026: England & Wales 8, Scotland 10, Northern Ireland 10 bank holidays.
- 2027: England & Wales 8, Scotland 9, Northern Ireland 10 bank holidays.
Bridging Christmas 2026 to New Year 2027
Assuming you work Monday to Friday, here is the fewest days of annual leave that turn the whole stretch from Christmas Day to New Year's Day into one unbroken run — worked out from the same dates above, division by division.
England & Wales: book 3 days of leave (Tuesday 29 December, Wednesday 30 December, Thursday 31 December) and Friday 25 December to Sunday 3 January 2027 becomes 10 days off in a row.
Scotland: book 3 days of leave (Tuesday 29 December, Wednesday 30 December, Thursday 31 December) and Friday 25 December to Monday 4 January 2027 becomes 11 days off in a row.
Northern Ireland: book 3 days of leave (Tuesday 29 December, Wednesday 30 December, Thursday 31 December) and Friday 25 December to Sunday 3 January 2027 becomes 10 days off in a row.
Planning the trip itself? Christmas and New Year holidays from the UK covers where to go and what's confirmed so far, or see city breaks from the UK for something shorter.
Deciding what kind of trip those days off become? Staying away over the 24th to the 26th is a different trip from a market weekend earlier in December — see where to spend Christmas itself, or which Christmas market city fits which weekend.
How we work this out
Bank holiday dates are the government's published list at gov.uk, taken on 2026-08-22 and covering to the end of 2028. The dates are the government's; the long-weekend and annual-leave figures are ours — arithmetic on those dates, counting weekends and other bank holidays as days you already have.
These dates are a snapshot taken on the date above, not a live lookup — this page does not call gov.uk when you open it, so an outage there cannot blank or silently alter what you see. On a schedule we compare our copy against the government's own machine-readable feed, and treat "we could not reach the source" as a different answer from "the dates have changed". If a date ever moves, gov.uk is the authority and this page is not.
Places are ranked on how well that month's monthly climate averages suit a trip — around 27°C and dry scores best, so a 41°C desert August ranks below a mild coast. Those are multi-year historical averages, not a standard 30-year climate normal or a forecast: they tell you what a typical December 2026 looks like, not what the weather will do. Fares, where shown, are the cheapest one-way fare we hold from an airport serving the UK departing in that month — not a price for the bank holiday itself, and not a return. Where we have no fare for a month, we leave it out.
Planning further ahead? Holidays from the UK ranks every destination we cover on real fares from airports serving the UK, and winter sun from the UK covers the December and February breaks specifically.