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UK May bank holidays 2024: when is the next day off?

Want to plan ahead and make the most of your annual leave? Here are the UK bank holiday dates, including Christmas and new year, to note

Brighton during a bank holiday weekend
Brighton during a bank holiday weekend
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Qin Xie and
Lucy Perrin
The Times

Spring is a great season to start thinking about long weekends — particularly when there are so many bank holidays coming up, including two in May. Taking advantage of bank holidays can be a great way to boost your annual leave as they’re days everyone gets to take off either on the day or in lieu. But the number of days you get off and when they fall are slightly different in Scotland and Northern Ireland compared to England and Wales. If you want to plan ahead and book the time off, here are the bank holidays coming up in the UK.

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How many bank holidays are there in the UK in 2024?

There are four nations in the UK and the number of bank holidays for each one is different. England and Wales each have eight bank holidays, Scotland has nine and Northern Ireland has ten.

In some years, there have also been additional bank holidays due to special events, such as the King’s coronation in 2023.

When is the next bank holiday in the UK?

Below are the bank holiday dates for 2024 for England and Wales. Note that the dates are slightly different for Scotland and Northern Ireland (see below).

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• Monday, January 1 New Year’s Day
• Friday, March 29 Good Friday
• Monday, April 1 Easter Monday
• Monday, May 6 early May bank holiday
• Monday, May 27 spring bank holiday
• Monday, August 26 summer bank holiday
• Wednesday, December 25 Christmas Day
• Thursday, December 26 Boxing Day

What about Scotland and Northern Ireland?

A sunny May bank holiday in Oban, Scotland
A sunny May bank holiday in Oban, Scotland
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Scotland has an extra day off after New Year’s Day (Tuesday, January 2), taking its annual bank holiday total to nine. And while it doesn’t have Easter Monday, it does have a day off towards the end of the year for St Andrew’s Day (it’s Monday, December 2 in 2024). Its August bank holiday also falls on a different day — in 2024 it’s on Monday, August 5.

Northern Ireland’s bank holidays are largely the same as those for England and Wales but there are two extra days off: St Patrick’s Day (the substitute bank holiday is Monday, March 18 in 2024) and a day to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day) on Friday, July 12.

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