- Learn how to plan around UK bank holidays in 2026, with full national calendars for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Find out how just a few days of annual leave can unlock longer breaks at Easter and over Christmas and New Year.
- Get practical tips on saving money, from travelling outside school holidays to using discount codes for flights and hotels.
After the extra bank holiday bonanza of previous years, 2025 has been a standard year for bank holidays, but there are still a few opportunities to book an extended break.
With Christmas Day on Thursday 25th December and Boxing Day on Friday 26th December, workers across the UK can create a long nine-day holiday by taking just three days of leave earlier that week. Combining the Christmas holidays with New Year's can give even more time away from work.
In Scotland, St. Andrew's Day on Monday, 1st December, is an additional bank holiday, providing Scottish workers an extra-long weekend. To get a 4 day weekend, we suggest using 1 day's annual leave to book the Friday before off.
Looking ahead, 2026 will also maintain the standard bank holidays - see below for details. Whilst there's no extra days off, employees can still find plenty of ways to maximise annual leave and transform long weekends into extended breaks.
Year-end 2025: how to maximise annual leave around Christmas and New Year
There is still time to stretch your annual leave in 2025, with Christmas and New Year providing some of the best opportunities of the year.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Christmas Day falls on Thursday, 25th December, and Boxing Day on Friday, 26th December. By booking Monday, 22nd to Wednesday, 24th December as leave, you can enjoy nine consecutive days off from Saturday, 20th to Sunday, 28th December.
Another option is to book Monday, 29th, to Wednesday, 31st December. That gives you eight consecutive days off from Thursday, 25th December through New Year's Day on Thursday, 1st January.
To enjoy the full stretch through to Sunday, 4th January, you'll need to book Friday, 2nd January as well. In total, that means seven days of leave (22nd–24th and 29th–31st December plus 2nd January) for a 16-day holiday from Saturday, 20th December to Sunday, 4th January.
Scotland
In addition to Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Scotland also observes Friday, 2nd January as a bank holiday.
When are the bank holidays in 2026?
The number and dates of bank holidays vary slightly across the UK. Here's what's confirmed for 2026 in each nation:
England and Wales — 8 days
- New Year's Day — Thursday, 1st January
- Good Friday — Friday, 3rd April
- Easter Monday — Monday, 6th April
- Early May bank holiday — Monday, 4th May
- Spring bank holiday — Monday, 25th May
- Summer bank holiday — Monday, 31st August
- Christmas Day — Friday, 25th December
- Boxing Day — Monday, 28th December (substitute day)
Scotland — 9 days
- New Year's Day — Thursday, 1st January
- 2nd January — Friday, 2nd January
- Good Friday — Friday, 3rd April
- Early May bank holiday — Monday, 4th May
- Spring bank holiday — Monday, 25th May
- Summer bank holiday (first Monday in August) — Monday, 3rd August
- St Andrew's Day — Monday, 30th November
- Christmas Day — Friday, 25th December
- Boxing Day — Monday, 28th December (substitute day)
Northern Ireland — 10 days
- New Year's Day — Thursday, 1st January
- St Patrick's Day — Tuesday, 17th March
- Good Friday — Friday, 3rd April
- Easter Monday — Monday, 6th April
- Early May bank holiday — Monday, 4th May
- Spring bank holiday — Monday, 25th May
- Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day) — Sunday, 12th July (substitute day on Monday, 13th July)
- Summer bank holiday — Monday, 31st August
- Christmas Day — Friday, 25th December
- Boxing Day — Monday, 28th December (substitute day)
It's no secret that one of the best ways to get the most holidays in 2026 is to use these bank holidays to your advantage.
Times you can get a 7+ day holiday with less than four days of annual leave in 2026
You can get a seven-day holiday by taking off any bank holiday weekend and the four days surrounding it. Even better, in 2026 there are opportunities to turn just three days of leave into much longer breaks.
Easter
In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, Good Friday falls on 3rd April and Easter Monday on 6th April. By booking Tuesday 7th to Thursday 9th April as leave, you can turn three days off into a 10-day holiday running from Friday, 3rd April through Sunday, 12th April.
In Scotland, Easter Monday is not a bank holiday, so the same trick does not apply. Scottish workers can still create a longer spring holiday by combining Good Friday with annual leave on either side.
Christmas and New Year
Across the UK, Christmas Day falls on Friday, 25th December, and Boxing Day is observed on Monday, 28th December (substitute day). New Year’s Day is also a bank holiday on Friday, 1st January 2027.
By booking Tuesday 29th, Wednesday 30th, and Thursday 31st December as leave, you can enjoy 10 consecutive days off from Thursday, 24th December to Sunday, 3rd January.
In Scotland, Friday, 2nd January 2027 is also a bank holiday, which extends the break to 11 consecutive days without any additional leave.
So in total:
- In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, you need just 3 days of leave (29th–31st December) to secure a 10-day break.
- In Scotland, the same three days of leave give you 11 consecutive days off, from 24th December through to Sunday, 4th January.
Travel planning
According to our investigation into flight prices, Tuesday and Wednesday remain the cheapest days to travel. We advise flying out on a Wednesday. This means taking two or three days off before the bank holiday, and flying back the following Tuesday – just one or two days off after the bank holiday.
What are the UK school holidays for 2026?
The UK school holidays in 2026 are expected to fall around these dates, with some variation depending on region and local authority:
- Winter holidays: mid-December 2025 to early January 2026
- February half term: one week between 9th and 20th February
- Easter holidays: two weeks between 27th March and 13th April
- May half term: one week between 25th May and 5th June
- Summer holidays: six weeks from mid-July to early September (generally 13th July to 1st September, earlier in Scotland)
- October half term: one week between 19th and 30th October
Which bank holidays are outside the main school holidays?
In England and Wales, the early May bank holiday is the only bank holiday that falls outside of the main school holiday periods. If your New Year's wish for 2026 is to have a break without crowded airports and high prices, this could be the opportunity you were waiting for.
In Scotland, both 2nd January and St Andrew's Day on 30th November fall outside the school holiday calendar, providing additional opportunities for quieter breaks.
In Northern Ireland, St Patrick's Day on 17th March and the Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day) on 12th July also sit outside the main school holidays, creating further opportunities to travel while schools are still in session.
Advice to parents on a budget
If you are a parent on a budget, the school holidays can present real challenges in terms of getting away with your family. My own experience of travelling as a family on a budget was in September 2009. My family and I took a red-eye flight back from Greece, arriving in England at 5 a.m., and drove directly to school for the first day, as doing so was the only way we could afford to get away during the summer break.
We spoke to a UK mum, who wishes to remain anonymous, about school holiday price surges and how this impacts her time spent on holiday with her son.
"Taking kids on holiday, it made more financial sense to take them out of school and say they were sick. You can get fined for taking a child out of school in term time, but facing the £80 fine was cheaper than the extra £400 to fly on a Saturday!"
Our anonymous mum revealed that although she doesn't want to have to travel in term time, this is the only way she can make sure her son gets to experience holidays while he is young. At Savoo, we don't advise doing this, as it can get you into serious trouble. However, this experience shared by many UK parents highlights just how much research is needed to get the best holiday pricing, as well as the startling cost of travelling during the school holidays.
Why were there extra bank holidays in 2022 and 2023?
In 2022, two significant royal events resulted in the UK receiving two additional public holidays. One, planned, for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June, and then another, unplanned, for the Queen's State Funeral in September.
The extra bank holiday in 2023 was also for royal reasons. The King's Coronation on 6th May meant that Monday 8th May was also a bank holiday.
Some savvy holidaymakers figured out that, departing on 29th April (using the bank holiday on 1st May and 8th May and just four days of annual leave in between), workers were able to jet off on a ten-day holiday.
With Easter falling any time between March and April, this can also change the number of bank holidays in spring. 2023's late Easter might also have made it feel like there were more days off than usual, turning the usual four bank holidays between March and May into five bank holidays from April to May.
What is the reason for an extra bank holiday?
There are only a few reasons why the UK might get an extra bank holiday at the prime minister's discretion. In the past hundred years, there have only been a total of ten extra bank holidays, proving just how rare they are (and how exceptional 2022 and 2023 were). Some examples of why we might get an extra bank holiday are:
- A royal wedding
- Royal jubilees
- A coronation
- A state funeral
There was also a one-off for the millennium year on 31st December 1999.
While weddings, coronations and funerals are harder to predict, the next Jubilee lined up will be the 25-year Silver Jubilee of King Charles. Based on this, following the coronation in 2023, the next extra bank holiday could be on 8th May 2048.
Other tips for saving on your 2026 holiday booking
- Check for local events
- Please have a read of our article on how to save money on your hotel booking
- Travel outside of the school holiday times mentioned above
- Use a discount code for your travel provider (You'll find the top travel deals on our travel page)