United Kingdom public holidays 2026

The year's first holiday is New Year's Day on Thursday 1 January; the last is Boxing Day on Saturday 26 December. Today's status and a countdown to the next holiday are on the United Kingdom holidays page. Other years: 2027.

Long weekends in 2026

• 4 days: Friday 3 April – Monday 6 April (Good Friday, Easter Monday)
• 3 days: Saturday 2 May – Monday 4 May (Early May bank holiday)
• 3 days: Saturday 23 May – Monday 25 May (Spring bank holiday)
• 3 days: Saturday 29 August – Monday 31 August (Summer bank holiday)
• 4 days: Friday 25 December – Monday 28 December (Christmas Day, Boxing Day)

Bridge days

Taking one working day off turns these into longer breaks:

• Take Friday 2 January off → 4 days, Thursday 1 January – Sunday 4 January (New Year's Day)

Counted with Saturday and Sunday as the weekend and only the national holidays listed here; regional holidays can make more breaks.

Sources

• GOV.UK — UK bank holidays — official list to confirm dates (checked 2026-10-10)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-10)

For reference only — governments can add, move or cancel holidays at short notice. Confirm with the official source: GOV.UK — UK bank holidays. Data: the open-source holidays library (MIT), spot-checked against official 2026 calendars.