Bank holidays
Christmas and New Year bank holidays
Pick the Christmas you are planning: the bank holidays, the substitute days and the days off around them.
Christmas and New Year days off
Christmas Day falls on a
Saturday
| Christmas Day (substitute) | 27 December 2027 |
| Boxing Day (substitute) | 28 December 2027 |
| New Year's Day (substitute) | 3 January 2028 |
| Working days from 24 Dec to that day | 4 |
Christmas Day and Boxing Day are bank holidays everywhere in the UK, and New Year's Day follows a week later; Scotland adds 2 January. When any of them falls at a weekend, a weekday is given instead. In 2026 Christmas Day is a Friday and Boxing Day a Saturday, so the Boxing Day holiday moves to Monday, 28 December 2026, and New Year's Day 2027 is a Friday. In 2027 both Christmas days fall at the weekend, so the holidays are Monday, 27 December 2027 and Tuesday, 28 December 2027, and New Year's Day 2028, a Saturday, moves to Monday, 3 January 2028. In 2028 Christmas Day is a Monday and nothing moves. With three days of leave between Christmas and New Year, 2026 and 2027 each give ten consecutive days off. The days are set by the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 and the yearly proclamations.
Days off from a few days of annual leave
Days off in a row
10
| From | 26 March 2027 |
| To | 4 April 2027 |
| Leave used | 4 days |
Book 30 March 2027, 31 March 2027, 1 April 2027, 2 April 2027.
Rules and dates checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Christmas and New Year, 2026 to 2030
| Christmas of | Christmas Day | Boxing Day | New Year's Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 25 December 2026, Friday | 28 December 2026, Monday (substitute) | 1 January 2027, Friday |
| 2027 | 27 December 2027, Monday (substitute) | 28 December 2027, Tuesday (substitute) | 3 January 2028, Monday (substitute) |
| 2028 | 25 December 2028, Monday | 26 December 2028, Tuesday | 1 January 2029, Monday |
| 2029 | 25 December 2029, Tuesday | 26 December 2029, Wednesday | 1 January 2030, Tuesday |
| 2030 | 25 December 2030, Wednesday | 26 December 2030, Thursday | 1 January 2031, Wednesday |
How the Christmas substitutes work
Christmas Day is an old common-law holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Boxing Day is named in Schedule 1 to the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, which also provides that when 26 December is a Sunday, the 27th is the bank holiday. Any other weekend case is handled by royal proclamation. The procedure that results is always the same: each day that falls on a Saturday or Sunday is given the next weekday that is not already a holiday, Christmas first, then Boxing Day.
That gives three patterns. If Christmas is on a Friday, as in 2026, Boxing Day moves to the Monday. If Christmas is on a Saturday, as in 2027, the holidays are the Monday and Tuesday. If Christmas is on a Sunday, as in 2022, Boxing Day keeps the Monday and Christmas takes the Tuesday. In every other year both fall on weekdays and nothing moves. The 2027 proclamation appointed Tuesday 28 December; the Monday follows from the Act.
Shops, post and services
Large shops in England and Wales must close on Christmas Day under the Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004, and in Scotland under a 2007 Act; small shops may open. On Boxing Day shops can open as normal in England and Wales, and the Boxing Day sales often start online on Christmas Day. Royal Mail does not deliver letters on bank holidays, and public transport runs a reduced service or none at all on Christmas Day. Banks process no payments on the bank holidays themselves, so salaries due over Christmas are usually paid early; ask your employer.
Working days in late December
The week between Christmas and New Year has only three working days in 2026 and 2027 (29, 30 and 31 December). Deliveries and legal deadlines counted in working days slip into January as a result. The working days calculator skips the holidays of your nation automatically, and the Christmas countdown counts the sleeps to the day itself.
Employers that close between Christmas and New Year often ask staff to keep annual leave for those days. Under the Working Time Regulations an employer can require leave to be taken on given days, provided it gives notice of at least twice the length of the leave. The bank holiday pay page explains how bank holidays and annual leave fit together.
The simulator above gives the bank holidays and the days off for any Christmas from 2026 to 2030, and the one under the summary finds the longest break for a number of days of leave.