Ellie runs a small courier firm with drivers in Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast, and every December she gets caught out by the same thing: UK bank holidays in 2026 and 2027 do not line up across her three depots. A delivery promised “in five working days” can land on different dates depending on which side of a border the customer lives.
Quick answer: UK bank holidays 2026 total 8 in England and Wales and 10 each in Scotland and Northern Ireland, with Scotland gaining a one off World Cup holiday on Monday 15 June. With 26 December on a Saturday, Boxing Day moves to Monday 28 December everywhere, and England and Wales have 253 working days.
Here are both years’ holidays by nation, the working day totals Ellie now uses for staffing and pricing, and the counting tricks that stop Easter and Christmas from wrecking a deadline.
In This Guide
How Many Bank Holidays Does Each UK Nation Get in 2026?
Cardiff gets 8 bank holidays in 2026, while Glasgow and Belfast each get 10, with Scotland boosted by Monday 15 June, declared a bank holiday for the World Cup. Of the UK bank holidays 2026 brings, Ellie’s Cardiff team gets 8, while Glasgow and Belfast each get 10. Scotland’s count is boosted by a one off: Monday 15 June has been declared a bank holiday for the World Cup. Weekend clashes in the UK bank holidays 2026 calendar are handled with a replacement weekday, so with 26 December on a Saturday, Boxing Day moves to Monday 28 December everywhere.
| Date | Bank holiday | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 January | New Year’s Day | All UK |
| Fri 2 January | 2nd January | Scotland |
| Tue 17 March | St Patrick’s Day | Northern Ireland |
| Fri 3 April | Good Friday | All UK |
| Mon 6 April | Easter Monday | England, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Mon 4 May | Early May bank holiday | All UK |
| Mon 25 May | Spring bank holiday | All UK |
| Mon 15 June | World Cup bank holiday | Scotland |
| Mon 13 July | Battle of the Boyne (substitute day) | Northern Ireland |
| Mon 3 August | Summer bank holiday | Scotland |
| Mon 31 August | Summer bank holiday | England, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Mon 30 November | St Andrew’s Day | Scotland |
| Fri 25 December | Christmas Day | All UK |
| Mon 28 December | Boxing Day (substitute day) | All UK |
What Changes for UK Bank Holidays in 2027?
Good Friday falls on the 26th of March and Easter Monday on the 29th, while Christmas Day and Boxing Day move to Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December. Easter arrives in March next year: Good Friday is the 26th and Easter Monday the 29th, so Ellie’s first quarter loses two days earlier than usual. Christmas Day lands on a Saturday and Boxing Day on a Sunday, which pushes both holidays to Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December. Glasgow’s 2 January holiday also falls on a Saturday and is moved to Monday 4 January.
| Date | Bank holiday | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 January | New Year’s Day | All UK |
| Mon 4 January | 2nd January (substitute day) | Scotland |
| Wed 17 March | St Patrick’s Day | Northern Ireland |
| Fri 26 March | Good Friday | All UK |
| Mon 29 March | Easter Monday | England, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Mon 3 May | Early May bank holiday | All UK |
| Mon 31 May | Spring bank holiday | All UK |
| Mon 12 July | Battle of the Boyne | Northern Ireland |
| Mon 2 August | Summer bank holiday | Scotland |
| Mon 30 August | Summer bank holiday | England, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Tue 30 November | St Andrew’s Day | Scotland |
| Mon 27 December | Christmas Day (substitute day) | All UK |
| Tue 28 December | Boxing Day (substitute day) | All UK |
All of these dates match the official GOV.UK bank holidays list, and Ellie checks it each January because dates can be added at short notice, as the June 2026 Scottish holiday showed.
Working day totals Ellie budgets with
Start with the arithmetic of the calendar. Fifty two whole weeks account for 364 days and 260 weekdays, leaving one spare day in a 365 day year. In 2026 that spare day is a Thursday and in 2027 a Friday, so each year ends up with 261 weekdays. Subtract the bank holidays, every one of which lands on a weekday once substitutes are applied, and you have the figure for a Monday to Friday employee:
| Nation | Weekdays 2026 | Bank holidays 2026 | Working days 2026 | Bank holidays 2027 | Working days 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 261 | 8 | 253 | 8 | 253 |
| Scotland | 261 | 10 | 251 | 9 | 252 |
| Northern Ireland | 261 | 10 | 251 | 10 | 251 |
Ellie uses these numbers for far more than rotas. Dividing a salary by 253 rather than 251 changes a day rate slightly, and that matters when she pays someone who joins mid year or drops to four days. For those cases she runs the figures through the pro rata salary calculator, entering the working day count for the depot concerned.
Hitting deadlines across Christmas and Easter
Counting by hand comes down to three subtractions: start with calendar days, strip out weekends, then strip out any bank holidays that fell on a weekday. Take the final quarter of 2026. From 1 October to 31 December there are 92 days, 26 of them Saturdays or Sundays, leaving 66 weekdays. Cardiff then loses Christmas Day and the Boxing Day substitute, so it has 64 working days. Glasgow loses St Andrew’s Day on 30 November as well, ending on 63.
Adding days forward follows the same logic. One of Ellie’s contracts allows 20 working days from Monday 14 December 2026, with the start day itself excluded:
- Cardiff: Christmas Day, the Boxing Day substitute and New Year’s Day drop out, putting the deadline on Thursday 14 January 2027.
- Glasgow: Monday 4 January (the moved 2nd January holiday) drops out too, so the deadline slides to Friday 15 January 2027.
Spring creates the same split. Count ten working days on from Monday 30 March 2026 and Cardiff reaches Wednesday 15 April, whereas Glasgow, which works through Easter Monday, gets there on Tuesday 14 April. Rather than marking a paper calendar, Ellie sets the nation and working pattern in our working days calculator and reads off the answer.
Some promises are measured in hours instead. For a 48 hour collection window that runs through a weekend, the time duration calculator gives the exact span between two moments. Read contract wording closely too, since a bare “days” usually means calendar days, not working ones.
Do staff get bank holidays on top of leave?
Not automatically. UK law does not guarantee anyone a day off on a bank holiday. What nearly every worker does get is 5.6 weeks of paid leave a year, which is 28 days for a five day week, and an employer may count bank holidays inside that 28. One of Ellie’s full time Cardiff drivers on the statutory minimum, with all 8 bank holidays off, therefore has 20 days left to book. GOV.UK sets out the detail in its guide to holiday entitlement rights, and each contract states how bank holidays are handled.
Ellie’s part time drivers raise a separate fairness problem. A driver who only works Mondays would be hit hard in a year when most holidays fall on Mondays, so Ellie gives part time staff a pro rata share of bank holiday hours instead. To check the entitlement and the pay for that time off, she uses the holiday pay calculator based on the days each person actually works.
Key points
- England and Wales: 8 bank holidays in 2026 and 8 in 2027.
- Scotland: 10 in 2026, with the World Cup holiday on 15 June, then 9 in 2027.
- Northern Ireland: 10 in each year.
- Both years contain 261 weekdays, giving England and Wales 253 working days apiece.
- Employers can fold bank holidays into the 28 day statutory leave minimum.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m planning leave in Manchester. Which bank holidays are still left in 2026?
With the 31 August summer holiday gone, England has two left: Christmas Day on Friday 25 December and the Boxing Day substitute on Monday 28 December.
My office is in Edinburgh. Should I expect Easter Monday off?
Not as a bank holiday. Scotland shares Good Friday with the rest of the UK but swaps Easter Monday for 2 January, an early August summer holiday and St Andrew’s Day. Some employers still give the day off by choice.
A supplier says it will pay within 10 working days. Does Boxing Day count?
Almost certainly not. Most businesses and courts read working days as Monday to Friday minus bank holidays, so the 28 December substitute would be skipped. Check the contract’s own definition to be sure.
I invoice by the day. How many days can I bill in a typical month?
Anything from 19 to 23. December 2026 gives 21 in all four nations, while April 2026 gives 20 in England and Wales but 21 in Scotland, because Easter Monday is a normal working day there.
Since Ellie started planning from her depots’ own holiday lists and working day totals, missed delivery promises around Christmas have all but stopped. Keep the 2026 and 2027 tables handy, and hand the counting to a calculator whenever a date carries a penalty.