With just four months left of the year, you might be thinking towards 2026. The dates of bank holidays shift each year, influenced by weekends and annual holidays like Easter that change dates.
Regrettably, with no significant national celebrations on the horizon, there are currently no plans to add any extra bank holidays to the eight days we’ll receive in 2026.
The first bank holiday of 2026 will, of course, be New Year’s Day, Thursday, January 1.
While this year’s Easter bank holidays were in late April, next year Easter will be slightly earlier, with Good Friday falling on Friday, April 3, and Easter Monday on Monday, April 6, reports the Liverpool Echo.
May’s two bank holidays will be on Monday, May 4 and Monday, May 25, while the summer bank holiday, which falls towards the end of the school summer holidays, will be on Monday, August 31.
To conclude the year, next year’s Christmas bank holiday will be on Friday, December 25.
Boxing Day in 2026 falls on Saturday, December 26, meaning there will be a substitute bank holiday on Monday, December 28.
Savvy workers can plan ahead now to maximise their annual leave by booking holidays around these dates to extend their time off.
Full list of confirmed bank holidays:
January 1 – Thursday – New Year’s Day
April 3 – Friday – Good Friday
April 6 – Monday – Easter Monday
4 May – Monday – Early May bank holiday
25 May – Monday – Spring bank holiday
31 August – Monday – Summer bank holiday
25 December – Friday – Christmas Day
28 December – Monday – Boxing Day (substitute day)
