Explained
What Is a Bank Holiday? UK Bank Holiday Facts
A bank holiday is a public holiday on which banks may close. Here is what that means in practice, why the name stuck and 33 sourced facts about how bank holidays work across the UK.
What is a bank holiday?
A bank holiday is a day on which banks are legally allowed to close. The standing days are listed in the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, and extra ones can be appointed by royal proclamation. England and Wales have eight a year, Scotland nine and Northern Ireland ten.
In practice most offices, schools and public services close too, which is why people use "bank holiday" for any public holiday. What it does not do is give workers a right to the day off: that depends on each contract. See bank holiday pay and entitlement.
Why are they called bank holidays?
The first law, the Bank Holidays Act 1871, was a piece of banking legislation. It named days on which banks could shut and said that bills and payments due then could be paid the next day without penalty. Once the banks closed, other businesses followed, and the banking term became the general one. The full story is in the history of bank holidays.
Why are there two bank holidays in May?
They have different origins. The late May bank holiday is the old Whit Monday holiday from 1871, moved to a fixed last Monday in May in 1971. The Early May bank holiday was added in 1978 as a May Day holiday. Nobody set out to give May two; it is simply where both landed.
Why is there a bank holiday in August?
The August bank holiday is one of the original four, created in 1871 to give workers a day off in summer. It was the first Monday in August across the UK. England, Wales and Northern Ireland later moved it to the last Monday; Scotland kept the first.
Bank holiday vs public holiday
Four terms that are often used as if they meant the same thing.
| Term | What it means | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Bank holiday | A day named in the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, or appointed by royal proclamation, on which banks may close. | Easter Monday, the May and August bank holidays, Boxing Day |
| Public holiday | The wider everyday term. Strictly, it also covers days that are holidays by long-standing custom under common law. | Good Friday and Christmas Day in England, Wales and Northern Ireland |
| Statutory holiday | Not a kind of day at all: the paid leave every worker is entitled to by law, currently 5.6 weeks a year. | 28 days for a five-day week, which may include bank holidays |
| Local holiday | A day set by a council for its own area. It is not a bank holiday. | Glasgow Fair Monday, Edinburgh's spring and autumn holidays |
33 bank holiday facts
Filter by topic. Each fact names its source.
- History
Bank holidays began in 1871
The Bank Holidays Act 1871 created the first statutory bank holidays: four in England, Wales and Ireland and five in Scotland.
Source: Bank Holidays Act 1871
- History
They were nicknamed St Lubbock's Days
The Act was the work of Sir John Lubbock, a banker and Liberal MP. Grateful workers named the new days off after him.
Source: House of Commons Library
- History
Their inventor also studied ants
Lubbock was a serious naturalist and a neighbour and friend of Charles Darwin. He published research on ants, bees and wasps alongside his career in banking and Parliament.
Source: Royal Society biographical records
- History
There used to be far more of them
In the early 1800s the Bank of England closed on more than 30 saints' days and religious festivals a year. By 1834 the number had been cut to just four.
Source: Bank of England history
- History
Good Friday and Christmas were left out of the first Act
In England, Wales and Ireland they were already customary holidays, so the 1871 Act did not need to list them. They are still common law holidays there today.
Source: House of Commons Library
- History
The current law dates from 1971
The Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 replaced the Victorian legislation and is still the basis for every bank holiday.
Source: Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971
- History
New Year's Day is a recent addition
England, Wales and Northern Ireland only gained New Year's Day as a bank holiday in 1974. Scotland had observed it since 1871.
Source: Royal proclamation, 1973
- History
Whitsun gave way to a fixed Monday
The Whit Monday bank holiday moved with Easter. After a trial in the 1960s it was replaced in 1971 by the Spring bank holiday on the last Monday in May.
Source: Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971
- History
The August bank holiday used to be at the start of the month
It was the first Monday in August from 1871. England, Wales and Northern Ireland moved it to the end of the month; Scotland never did.
Source: House of Commons Library
- The four nations
Eight, nine or ten
A normal year has 8 bank holidays in England and Wales, 9 in Scotland and 10 in Northern Ireland.
Source: GOV.UK
- The four nations
Only two patron saints get a day
St Patrick's Day is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and St Andrew's Day in Scotland. St George's Day and St David's Day are not bank holidays.
Source: GOV.UK
- The four nations
St Andrew's Day is optional
It became a Scottish bank holiday in 2007, but the law was written so that neither banks nor employers have to observe it.
Source: St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007
- The four nations
Scotland has no Easter Monday
Good Friday is a bank holiday across the UK, but Easter Monday is not on Scotland's national list.
Source: GOV.UK
- The four nations
Scotland can add bank holidays; Wales cannot
Bank holidays are devolved to the Scottish Parliament. In Wales the power stays with the UK Government, which is why St David's Day remains a working day.
Source: House of Commons Library
- The four nations
Scotland gets two days for New Year
2 January is a bank holiday in Scotland only, reflecting the importance of Hogmanay.
Source: Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971
- The four nations
The UK is near the bottom of the European table
With eight, England and Wales have among the fewest public holidays of any country in Europe.
Source: Eurofound working time comparisons
- Calendar quirks
Easter can move by five weeks
Easter Sunday falls anywhere from 22 March to 25 April. The earliest date last happened in 1818 and will not recur until 2285.
Source: Gregorian Easter calculation
- Calendar quirks
The latest possible Easter is coming
Easter Sunday on 25 April last happened in 1943. The next time is 2038.
Source: Gregorian Easter calculation
- Calendar quirks
May is the only month with two
The Early May and Spring bank holidays both fall in May, on its first and last Mondays.
Source: GOV.UK
- Calendar quirks
Half of them are set to a Monday
In England and Wales four of the eight bank holidays are fixed to a Monday by rule, and Good Friday is always a Friday. Only a one-off move, as in 2020, changes that.
Source: GOV.UK
- Calendar quirks
There is a four-month drought
After the late-August bank holiday, England, Wales and Northern Ireland have no bank holiday until Christmas Day.
Source: GOV.UK
- Calendar quirks
A weekend Christmas is never lost
If Christmas Day is a Saturday, the bank holidays move to Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December.
Source: GOV.UK
- Calendar quirks
One bank holiday has been held on a Friday instead
In 2020 the Early May bank holiday moved from Monday 4 May to Friday 8 May for the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Source: GOV.UK
- One-off holidays
A royal wedding on a Wednesday
Wednesday 14 November 1973 was declared a bank holiday for the wedding of Princess Anne, one of the first extras under the 1971 Act.
Source: Royal proclamation, 1973
- One-off holidays
The millennium got one too
Friday 31 December 1999 was a one-off bank holiday so the country could see in the year 2000.
Source: Royal proclamation, 1999
- One-off holidays
2011 had back-to-back four-day weekends
The royal wedding holiday on Friday 29 April fell between Easter Monday and the Early May bank holiday, so three days of leave bought eleven days off.
Source: GOV.UK
- One-off holidays
2022 had two extra bank holidays
The Platinum Jubilee on 3 June and the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on 19 September took the total in England and Wales to ten.
Source: GOV.UK
- One-off holidays
May 2023 had three bank holidays
The coronation of King Charles III added Monday 8 May between the usual Early May and Spring bank holidays.
Source: GOV.UK
- One-off holidays
Scotland has a football bank holiday in 2026
Monday 15 June 2026 is a one-off bank holiday in Scotland, marking the men's national team reaching the World Cup finals.
Source: GOV.UK
- Work and the law
There is no right to a bank holiday off
UK law does not give workers the right to time off or extra pay on a bank holiday. It depends entirely on the contract.
Source: GOV.UK holiday entitlement guidance
- Work and the law
Bank holidays can count as annual leave
Workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, and employers are allowed to include bank holidays within it.
Source: Working Time Regulations 1998
- Work and the law
Big shops must shut on Christmas Day
Large shops are banned from opening on Christmas Day in England, Wales and Scotland. In England and Wales they must also close on Easter Sunday, which is not a bank holiday at all.
Source: Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004; Christmas Day and New Year's Day Trading (Scotland) Act 2007
- Work and the law
The name is literal
A bank holiday is a day on which banks may close and payments falling due are legally deferred to the next working day.
Source: Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971
What is a bank holiday? Questions
What is a bank holiday in the UK?
A bank holiday is a public holiday on which banks are allowed to close, set either by the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 or by royal proclamation. Most offices and schools close as well.
What does bank holiday mean?
It means a day when banks do not have to open and payments due are deferred to the next working day. In everyday speech it simply means a public holiday.
Why are they called bank holidays?
Because the law that created them allowed banks to close and deferred any payments due that day to the next working day. Other businesses followed the banks, and the name stuck.
Do banks close on bank holidays?
Yes. Bank branches are closed, and Bacs and CHAPS payments are not processed. Online banking, cash machines and Faster Payments carry on.
What is the difference between a bank holiday and a public holiday?
In everyday use they mean the same thing. Strictly, bank holidays are those set by statute or proclamation, while Good Friday and Christmas Day in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are public holidays by common law.
Why do we have bank holidays in May?
The late May bank holiday is the old Whit Monday holiday, fixed to the last Monday in May in 1971. The Early May bank holiday was added in 1978 as a May Day holiday.
Why is there a bank holiday in August?
It was one of the original bank holidays of 1871, meant as a summer day off. Scotland still has it on the first Monday in August; the rest of the UK moved it to the last.
Who invented bank holidays?
Sir John Lubbock, a banker and MP, who steered the Bank Holidays Act through Parliament in 1871.
Which country has the most bank holidays in the UK?
Northern Ireland, with ten in a normal year. Scotland has nine and England and Wales have eight.
Does everyone get bank holidays off?
No. There is no legal right to time off or extra pay on a bank holiday. It depends on your contract.