Also on Bank Holidays UK: Spring Bank Holiday — Date, History & Pay · Bank Holiday April 2026 — Easter Weekend · The King’s Birthday — Public Holiday Status
The Easter Bank Holiday 2026 spans Friday 3 April to Monday 6 April 2026, giving most UK workers a four-day long weekend. Good Friday is the bank holiday across the entire UK; Easter Monday is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — but not in Scotland. This page covers the full Easter weekend dates, the long-weekend calculation, what’s open, and how Easter Monday fits in.
On this page
Easter Bank Holiday 2026 — full weekend dates
The Easter long weekend in 2026 runs over four consecutive days, two of which are bank holidays:
| Day | Date | Bank holiday? |
|---|---|---|
| Good Friday | Friday 3 April 2026 | Yes — all UK |
| Holy Saturday | Saturday 4 April 2026 | No — but a normal weekend day |
| Easter Sunday | Sunday 5 April 2026 | No — Christian holy day, not a statutory bank holiday |
| Easter Monday | Monday 6 April 2026 | Yes — England, Wales, Northern Ireland (not Scotland) |
For employed workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland this gives four consecutive non-working days — the longest synchronised pause of the year apart from Christmas. Scottish workers strictly only get Good Friday off as a bank holiday (Easter Monday is not statutory in Scotland), but most Scottish employers grant Easter Monday customarily.
How the Easter date is calculated
Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon falling on or after 21 March (the spring equinox). The rule was set at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and re-codified by the British Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, which Parliament passed when Britain switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
The rule produces an Easter Sunday that varies between 22 March and 25 April, a window of 35 days. The Easter Bank Holiday weekend therefore moves with it: Good Friday lands between 20 March and 23 April, and Easter Monday between 23 March and 26 April.
The Eastern Orthodox churches use a different version of the rule (based on the Julian calendar’s vernal equinox) and so usually celebrate Easter one to five weeks later than Western churches. In 2026 Orthodox Easter Sunday falls on 12 April — exactly one week after the Western date.
Differences by UK region
| Region | Good Friday | Easter Monday | Total Easter bank holidays |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | Yes | Yes | 2 |
| Wales | Yes | Yes | 2 |
| Scotland | Yes | No (commonly observed but not statutory) | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | Yes | Yes | 2 |
The Scottish anomaly is historic. When the Bank Holidays Act 1871 was extended to Scotland, Easter Monday was not included — Scotland’s distinct Reformation tradition gave less weight to the Monday following Easter Sunday. The omission was preserved in 1971 and never reversed, although periodic proposals have suggested aligning Scottish Easter with the rest of the UK.
Easter Bank Holiday dates 2025 to 2030
| Year | Good Friday | Easter Sunday | Easter Monday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Fri 18 April 2025 | Sun 20 April 2025 | Mon 21 April 2025 |
| 2026 | Fri 3 April 2026 | Sun 5 April 2026 | Mon 6 April 2026 |
| 2027 | Fri 26 March 2027 | Sun 28 March 2027 | Mon 29 March 2027 |
| 2028 | Fri 14 April 2028 | Sun 16 April 2028 | Mon 17 April 2028 |
| 2029 | Fri 30 March 2029 | Sun 1 April 2029 | Mon 2 April 2029 |
| 2030 | Fri 19 April 2030 | Sun 21 April 2030 | Mon 22 April 2030 |
What was open and closed over Easter weekend 2026
Easter Sunday — special restrictions
Easter Sunday is unusual because, although it is not a bank holiday, it is the one day of the year when the Sunday Trading Act 1994 imposes the strictest rules. Large shops in England and Wales over 280 m² (about 3,000 sq ft) are completely barred from opening. This affects most large supermarkets, big-box retailers, IKEA, B&Q and Currys-style stores. Smaller shops, petrol stations and convenience stores are unaffected.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate Sunday-trading regimes (Scotland has none; Northern Ireland’s are stricter year-round) so Easter Sunday is not as commercially distinctive there.
Quick “open or closed” summary across the four-day weekend
| Service | Good Fri | Sat | Easter Sun | Easter Mon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-street banks | Closed | Limited Sat hours | Closed | Closed |
| Royal Mail post & parcel | None | Limited | None | None |
| Bin collections | None | None | None | None — typically rolled forward |
| Large supermarkets (E/W) | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Pubs & restaurants | Open | Open | Open | Open |
| National Rail | Sun timetable | Sat timetable | Sun timetable | Sun timetable |
| NHS GP surgeries | Closed | Closed | Closed | Closed |
Stretching Easter into a longer break
Easter is the most generous of the UK’s bank-holiday “stretches” — two bank holidays separated by a Sunday means just three days of annual leave can buy you a full nine-day holiday:
| Configuration | Days off taken | Total days off |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 3 → Mon 6 April (default) | 0 | 4 |
| Fri 3 April → Fri 10 April (Tue–Fri taken) | 4 | 8 |
| Sat 28 March → Mon 6 April (Mon–Thu taken) | 4 | 10 |
| Fri 3 → Sun 12 April (Tue 7 → Fri 10 taken) | 4 | 10 |
The four-for-ten configuration is especially attractive for families with school-age children, because the Easter half-term break in many English and Welsh local authorities is timed to overlap. See our 2026 long-weekends guide.
Easter and the UK school holidays
Most state schools in England and Wales take a two-week Easter break that straddles the bank-holiday weekend. The exact dates vary by local authority, but the typical 2026 pattern is:
| Region | Typical Easter break 2026 |
|---|---|
| England (most LEAs) | Mon 30 March → Fri 10 April 2026 |
| Wales | Mon 30 March → Fri 10 April 2026 |
| Scotland (most councils) | Fri 3 April → Mon 20 April 2026 |
| Northern Ireland | Mon 30 March → Fri 10 April 2026 |
The Scottish school break notably starts later and ends later — partly to align with the Scottish school year and partly because Scottish schools take a longer summer break.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Easter Bank Holiday 2026?
The Easter Bank Holiday spans Friday 3 April to Monday 6 April 2026. Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays; Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday are not, but they fall over a weekend so most workers have all four days off.
Is Easter Sunday a bank holiday in the UK?
No. Easter Sunday is a Christian holy day but it has never been a UK bank holiday. The two bank holidays are Good Friday and Easter Monday. Banks were never required to open on a Sunday in any case.
Why is Easter Monday not a bank holiday in Scotland?
For historical reasons. When Scottish bank holidays were codified — first in 1871 and then in 1971 — Easter Monday was not included, reflecting the Scottish Reformation’s downplaying of the Easter Monday tradition. Most Scottish employers grant the day off voluntarily.
Are large supermarkets really closed on Easter Sunday?
In England and Wales, yes — those over 280 m² are barred from opening by the Sunday Trading Act 1994. Smaller shops, petrol stations, and convenience stores can open as normal. In Scotland there is no such restriction.
When was the last time Easter fell over the same weekend as in 2026?
2015 was the most recent year in which Easter Sunday fell on 5 April. The pattern repeats only roughly — Easter dates do not cycle in a simple way because of the lunar calculation.
How many days off do I get for the Easter Bank Holiday?
If you work a standard Monday-to-Friday pattern in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, you get four consecutive days off (Friday to Monday) without using any annual leave. In Scotland, statutory entitlement is just one day (Good Friday) — but most employers add Easter Monday voluntarily.