Also on Bank Holidays UK: UK Bank Holidays 2025: The Full List of Dates · Bank Holiday Mondays — Full List 2026 · UK Bank Holidays 2028: Every Date for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
The UK has 13 bank holiday dates in 2027 — 8 in England and Wales,
9 in Scotland and 10 in Northern Ireland. The year opens with New Year’s Day on a Friday, brings
an unusually early Easter in March, and closes with Christmas and Boxing Day both pushed into the
following week because 25 December falls on a Saturday.
Friday 1 January (New Year’s Day) and the last is Tuesday 28 December
(Boxing Day, substitute day). Good Friday is 26 March 2027, Easter Monday
29 March 2027, the Early May bank holiday 3 May, the Spring bank
holiday 31 May, and the Summer bank holiday 30 August in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland (2 August in Scotland).
UK bank holidays 2027: the full list
Every bank holiday date observed anywhere in the UK in 2027, in order. A tick means the date is
a statutory bank holiday in that nation.
| Date | Bank holiday | Eng & Wales | Scotland | N. Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 Jan | New Year’s Day | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mon 4 Jan | 2nd January (substitute day) | — | ✓ | — |
| Wed 17 Mar | St Patrick’s Day | — | — | ✓ |
| Fri 26 Mar | Good Friday | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mon 29 Mar | Easter Monday | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Mon 3 May | Early May bank holiday | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mon 31 May | Spring bank holiday | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mon 12 Jul | Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day) | — | — | ✓ |
| Mon 2 Aug | Summer bank holiday | — | ✓ | — |
| Mon 30 Aug | Summer bank holiday | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Tue 30 Nov | St Andrew’s Day | — | ✓ | — |
| Mon 27 Dec | Christmas Day (substitute day) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tue 28 Dec | Boxing Day (substitute day) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Two dates in this table are substitute days. A substitute day is created when a bank
holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday: the day off moves to the next working day so that the number
of holidays in the year is preserved. In 2027 that applies to Christmas Day and Boxing Day across
the UK, and to Scotland’s 2 January holiday.
Bank holidays 2027 by nation
England and Wales — 8 bank holidays
England and Wales share the same list. There is no separate Welsh bank holiday: St David’s Day
(1 March) is widely marked but has never been made statutory. See our
England and Wales pages for the
detail.
| # | Date | Bank holiday |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friday 1 January | New Year’s Day |
| 2 | Friday 26 March | Good Friday |
| 3 | Monday 29 March | Easter Monday |
| 4 | Monday 3 May | Early May bank holiday |
| 5 | Monday 31 May | Spring bank holiday |
| 6 | Monday 30 August | Summer bank holiday |
| 7 | Monday 27 December | Christmas Day (substitute day) |
| 8 | Tuesday 28 December | Boxing Day (substitute day) |
Scotland — 9 bank holidays
Scotland trades Easter Monday for two of its own: the 2
January holiday and St Andrew’s Day. It also takes its
Summer bank holiday at the start of August rather than the end. Note that in Scotland most bank
holidays are set by local authorities and banks rather than by statute, so individual employers and
councils vary more than in the rest of the UK. Full detail on the
Scotland page.
| # | Date | Bank holiday |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friday 1 January | New Year’s Day |
| 2 | Monday 4 January | 2nd January (substitute day) |
| 3 | Friday 26 March | Good Friday |
| 4 | Monday 3 May | Early May bank holiday |
| 5 | Monday 31 May | Spring bank holiday |
| 6 | Monday 2 August | Summer bank holiday |
| 7 | Tuesday 30 November | St Andrew’s Day |
| 8 | Monday 27 December | Christmas Day (substitute day) |
| 9 | Tuesday 28 December | Boxing Day (substitute day) |
Northern Ireland — 10 bank holidays
Northern Ireland has the longest list in the UK, adding
St Patrick’s Day and the
Battle of the Boyne to the England and Wales set.
See the Northern Ireland page.
| # | Date | Bank holiday |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friday 1 January | New Year’s Day |
| 2 | Wednesday 17 March | St Patrick’s Day |
| 3 | Friday 26 March | Good Friday |
| 4 | Monday 29 March | Easter Monday |
| 5 | Monday 3 May | Early May bank holiday |
| 6 | Monday 31 May | Spring bank holiday |
| 7 | Monday 12 July | Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day) |
| 8 | Monday 30 August | Summer bank holiday |
| 9 | Monday 27 December | Christmas Day (substitute day) |
| 10 | Tuesday 28 December | Boxing Day (substitute day) |
What makes 2027 unusual
Easter is early — 26 to 29 March
Easter Sunday 2027 falls on 28 March, the earliest since 2016. Good Friday lands on
Friday 26 March and Easter Monday on Monday 29 March. Two knock-on
quirks worth knowing. First, Easter Sunday 2027 is also the day the clocks go forward — British
Summer Time starts on the last Sunday in March, which in 2027 is 28 March, so the Easter weekend
loses an hour. Second, the gap between Easter Monday and the Early May bank holiday stretches to
exactly five weeks.
Christmas and Boxing Day both move
25 December 2027 is a Saturday and 26 December a Sunday. The statutory days off therefore become
Monday 27 December and Tuesday 28 December. If your contract
specifies “Christmas Day and Boxing Day” rather than “the bank holidays”, check which one your
employer is applying — it is the single most common source of December payroll disputes. Our guides
to bank holiday entitlement and
bank holiday pay cover the rules.
Scotland’s 2 January slips to the 4th
2 January 2027 is a Saturday, so Scotland’s second New Year holiday is observed on
Monday 4 January. Combined with New Year’s Day on the Friday, Scotland starts 2027
with a four-day weekend.
Two Northern Ireland holidays land well
The Battle of the Boyne falls naturally on Monday 12 July 2027, so no substitute
day is needed. St Patrick’s Day, however, is a Wednesday — a midweek day off rather than a long
weekend.
Long weekends in 2027
Bank holidays that sit next to a weekend without any annual leave at all:
| Period | Where | Days off | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 – Sun 3 Jan | All UK | 3 | New Year’s Day on a Friday |
| Fri 1 – Mon 4 Jan | Scotland | 4 | Plus the 2 January substitute day |
| Fri 26 – Mon 29 Mar | Eng, Wales, NI | 4 | Good Friday + Easter Monday |
| Fri 26 – Sun 28 Mar | Scotland | 3 | Good Friday only — no Easter Monday |
| Sat 1 – Mon 3 May | All UK | 3 | Early May bank holiday |
| Sat 29 – Mon 31 May | All UK | 3 | Spring bank holiday |
| Sat 10 – Mon 12 Jul | N. Ireland | 3 | Battle of the Boyne |
| Sat 31 Jul – Mon 2 Aug | Scotland | 3 | Scottish Summer bank holiday |
| Sat 28 – Mon 30 Aug | Eng, Wales, NI | 3 | Summer bank holiday |
| Sat 25 – Tue 28 Dec | All UK | 4 | Both Christmas holidays substituted into the week |
How to stretch your 2027 annual leave
The classic bank holiday arithmetic: book the working days around a holiday and the weekends do
the rest. These are the best-value bookings in 2027 for England and Wales.
| Book these days | Leave used | You get off | Total days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 29 – Fri 31 December | 3 | Sat 25 Dec 2027 → Mon 3 Jan 2028 | 10 |
| Mon 22 – Thu 25 March | 4 | Sat 20 → Mon 29 March | 10 |
| Tue 30 March – Fri 2 April | 4 | Fri 26 March → Sun 4 April | 10 |
| Tue 4 – Fri 7 May | 4 | Sat 1 → Sun 9 May | 9 |
| Tue 1 – Fri 4 June | 4 | Sat 29 May → Sun 6 June | 9 |
| Tue 31 Aug – Fri 3 September | 4 | Sat 28 Aug → Sun 5 September | 9 |
(29, 30 and 31 December) buys ten consecutive days off, because Christmas and Boxing Day are
substituted to 27 and 28 December and New Year’s Day 2028 falls on a Saturday — pushing its
substitute holiday to Monday 3 January 2028.
counts bank holidays as part of your 5.6-week statutory entitlement, or shuts down over Christmas
and allocates the days for you. Check your contract first — see
bank holiday entitlement and
working on bank holidays.
The long gaps in 2027
Bank holidays are not spread evenly across the year. In England and Wales, 2027 has two long
droughts:
- 119 days — from Monday 30 August (Summer bank holiday) to
Monday 27 December (Christmas Day). The familiar autumn stretch with no day off at all. - 91 days — from Monday 31 May (Spring bank holiday) to
Monday 30 August (Summer bank holiday).
Scotland breaks the summer gap earlier with its 2 August holiday and again with St Andrew’s Day
on 30 November; Northern Ireland breaks it with the Battle of the Boyne on 12 July.
2026, 2027 and 2028 compared
The eight England and Wales bank holidays never change — only the weekdays they land on do.
Dates marked * are substitute days.
| Bank holiday | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Thu 1 Jan | Fri 1 Jan | Mon 3 Jan * |
| Good Friday | Fri 3 Apr | Fri 26 Mar | Fri 14 Apr |
| Easter Monday | Mon 6 Apr | Mon 29 Mar | Mon 17 Apr |
| Early May bank holiday | Mon 4 May | Mon 3 May | Mon 1 May |
| Spring bank holiday | Mon 25 May | Mon 31 May | Mon 29 May |
| Summer bank holiday | Mon 31 Aug | Mon 30 Aug | Mon 28 Aug |
| Christmas Day | Fri 25 Dec | Mon 27 Dec * | Mon 25 Dec |
| Boxing Day | Mon 28 Dec * | Tue 28 Dec * | Tue 26 Dec |
Full calendars: the current year ·
2028 ·
2025. See also
the next bank holiday and
how many bank holidays the UK has.
Pay, time off and working on a 2027 bank holiday
A bank holiday is not automatically a paid day off in the UK. There is no statutory right to time
off on a bank holiday, and no statutory right to enhanced pay for working one. What you get depends
entirely on your contract of employment — the law only guarantees 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave,
and an employer is allowed to count the bank holidays inside that allowance.
- Bank holiday pay — what you are owed, and when
time-and-a-half is contractual rather than legal. - Bank holiday entitlement — how the 5.6
weeks is calculated, including part-time pro rata. - Working on bank holidays — whether you
can refuse, and what happens with substitute days. - Bank holiday pay calculator.
The December 2027 substitution deserves particular attention. Because the statutory days off are
Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December, employees whose contracts name “Christmas Day and Boxing Day”
specifically may be treated differently from those whose contracts refer to “public and bank
holidays”. Clarify it with your employer before the December payroll cut-off.
Each 2027 bank holiday in detail
- New Year’s Day — Friday 1 January 2027
- 2 January (Scotland) — Monday 4 January 2027 (substitute)
- St Patrick’s Day (NI) — Wednesday 17 March 2027
- Good Friday — Friday 26 March 2027
- Easter Monday — Monday 29 March 2027
- Early May bank holiday — Monday 3 May 2027
- Spring bank holiday — Monday 31 May 2027
- Battle of the Boyne (NI) — Monday 12 July 2027
- Summer bank holiday — Monday 2 August (Scotland) / Monday 30 August 2027
- St Andrew’s Day (Scotland) — Tuesday 30 November 2027
- Christmas Day — observed Monday 27 December 2027
- Boxing Day — observed Tuesday 28 December 2027
What is open on a 2027 bank holiday
The pattern does not change from year to year: banks and most public offices close, large shops
in England and Wales are restricted to six hours’ trading on Sundays but trade normally on bank
holiday Mondays, and services run to a Sunday timetable. The exceptions worth checking are
Royal Mail (no deliveries),
bin collections (usually shifted a day),
parking rules,
GP surgeries and
bank branches.
Frequently asked questions about 2027 bank holidays
How many bank holidays are there in 2027?
There are 8 bank holidays in England and Wales in 2027, 9 in Scotland and 10 in Northern Ireland. Across the UK as a whole that is 13 distinct dates, because Scotland and Northern Ireland each have holidays the others do not.
When is the first bank holiday of 2027?
Friday 1 January 2027 — New Year’s Day, observed across the whole UK. It falls on a Friday, so 2027 opens with a three-day weekend (four days in Scotland, where the 2 January holiday is moved to Monday 4 January).
When is Easter 2027?
Easter Sunday 2027 falls on 28 March. Good Friday is Friday 26 March and Easter Monday is Monday 29 March. That makes it the earliest Easter since 2016. Good Friday is a bank holiday across the whole UK; Easter Monday is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland.
Why is Christmas Day 2027 shown as 27 December?
Christmas Day 2027 falls on a Saturday and Boxing Day on a Sunday. Under the standard substitution rule the days off move to the next working days, so the bank holidays are Monday 27 December and Tuesday 28 December 2027. The 25th and 26th are still Christmas Day and Boxing Day — they are simply not the statutory days off.
When is the Spring bank holiday 2027?
Monday 31 May 2027, the last Monday in May, across the whole UK.
When is the August bank holiday 2027?
Monday 30 August 2027 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — the last Monday in August. Scotland’s Summer bank holiday is earlier: Monday 2 August 2027, the first Monday in August.
Does Scotland get extra bank holidays in 2027?
Yes. Scotland has 9 bank holidays in 2027: it adds the 2 January holiday (moved to Monday 4 January because 2 January falls on a Saturday) and St Andrew’s Day on Tuesday 30 November, but it does not observe Easter Monday.
How many bank holidays does Northern Ireland have in 2027?
Ten — the eight observed in England and Wales, plus St Patrick’s Day on Wednesday 17 March and the Battle of the Boyne on Monday 12 July 2027.
When is the last bank holiday of 2027?
Tuesday 28 December 2027, the substitute day for Boxing Day, across the whole UK.
Are the 2027 bank holiday dates confirmed?
Yes. All 2027 dates on this page are taken directly from the official GOV.UK bank holidays dataset. Fixed-date and Easter-linked holidays are set by law and by Royal Proclamation; the only dates that could still change are one-off additional holidays, which are announced separately and are rare.
How long is the gap between bank holidays in 2027?
The longest stretch without a bank holiday in England and Wales runs 119 days, from Monday 30 August to Monday 27 December. The second longest is 91 days, from Monday 31 May to Monday 30 August.
official GOV.UK
bank holidays dataset for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and were last
checked on 29 July 2026. Substitute days follow the standard rule set out
in the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 and confirmed each year by Royal Proclamation. We
re-verify every year page against the GOV.UK dataset whenever it is updated.