Easter 2027: Good Friday 26 March and Easter Monday 29 March

Last verified 27 September 2026 against the official GOV.UK bank holidays dataset.

Easter 2027 is early. Good Friday is 26 March 2027 and Easter Monday is 29 March 2027, with Easter Sunday on 28 March — the earliest Easter Sunday since 2016. England, Wales and Northern Ireland get a four-day weekend; Scotland gets Good Friday only.

Easter 2027 bank holidays by nation

Good Friday is a bank holiday in all four nations. Easter Monday is not a bank holiday in Scotland — it is an ordinary working day there unless your council or employer grants a local holiday. That single difference is behind most of the confusion around the Easter weekend.

For the rest of the year, see the full list of UK bank holidays 2027, or the nation pages for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Why Easter falls in March in 2027

Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that falls on or after 21 March, so it can land anywhere from 22 March to 25 April. In 2027 it arrives on 28 March, the earliest Easter Sunday since 2016. The next Easter Sunday as early as this is not until 2032.

An early Easter reshuffles spring. Easter Monday to the Early May bank holiday (Monday 3 May 2027) is a gap of 35 days — exactly 5 weeks without a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In a late-Easter year such as 2028 the two holidays sit only a fortnight apart.

Key Easter 2027 dates

Only Good Friday and Easter Monday carry bank holiday status. Mothering Sunday in the UK is the fourth Sunday of Lent, which is why it also moves with Easter: 7 March in 2027. Shrove Tuesday (pancake day) is Tuesday 9 February.

Easter Sunday 2027 is also clocks-forward day

In the UK the clocks go forward one hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March. In 2027 that is Sunday 28 March — Easter Sunday itself. The last time the two coincided was 2024; the next is 2032. In practice:

• Saturday night is an hour shorter. Anyone on a night shift over the Easter weekend works an hour less; check how your employer pays it.
• Sunrise services and early Easter Sunday events run on the new time (BST). Set the alarm with that in mind.
• Phones update automatically; oven clocks, car clocks and some heating timers do not.

How to turn Easter 2027 into a longer break

Easter is the cheapest long break of the year in England, Wales and Northern Ireland because it has two bank holidays back to back. These are the bookings that work in 2027 (check your leave year before you commit — if yours resets on 1 April, the second block falls in the new leave year):

Rules on whether bank holidays count towards your statutory 5.6 weeks are in our guide to bank holiday entitlement; if you are rostered over Easter, read working on a bank holiday and bank holiday pay.

Shops, supermarkets and transport over Easter 2027

Easter Sunday: large shops closed in England and Wales

Under the Sunday Trading Act 1994, large shops in England and Wales — those with a relevant floor area over 280 square metres — may not open on Easter Day. Smaller convenience stores, pharmacies and petrol-station shops can. Good Friday and Easter Monday carry no special legal restriction, so most supermarkets trade, often on reduced hours. The 1994 Act covers England and Wales only; Scotland has no equivalent Easter Sunday rule and Northern Ireland has its own Sunday trading law, so check store times locally. Our supermarket bank holiday hours and shop opening guides cover the detail.

Banks, post and bins

Bank branches close on both bank holidays (see banks), there are no Royal Mail deliveries on Good Friday or Easter Monday (Royal Mail) and many councils shift bin collections by a day. Post Office branches inside shops often stay open.

Trains and roads

Network Rail traditionally uses long bank holiday weekends for engineering work, so expect replacement buses on some routes and Sunday-style timetables on the holidays themselves. Details are published by operators a few weeks before; our trains on bank holidays page explains what usually changes.

Easter school holidays 2027

School Easter holidays are not set nationally. In England and Wales they are fixed by each local authority, academy trust or independent school; in Scotland by each council; in Northern Ireland by the Education Authority and individual schools. Not every area ties its spring break to Easter, so with Easter this early some schools will break up around the bank holidays while others keep a fixed April fortnight. We do not list 2027 term dates here — check your council’s published term calendar. Why schools close on bank holidays at all is covered in schools and bank holidays.

Easter 2026, 2027 and 2028 compared

Easter 2027 is three weeks earlier than 2028. For the other dates see UK bank holidays 2028, the long weekends 2027 planner and the background pages on Good Friday, Easter Monday and the Easter bank holiday. Northern Ireland also has St Patrick’s Day 2027 just nine days before Good Friday.