Spring Bank Holiday in 2024

When is the Spring Bank Holiday in the UK?

The Spring Bank Holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom and is celebrated on the last Monday in May.

It may also be known as the Late May Bank Holiday as this holiday was never given an official name.

Spring Bank Holiday became a holiday in 1967 when it replaced Whit Monday as a public holiday in the UK.

The change was welcome as the date of Whit Monday often fell in the summer term for schools interrupting exam schedules.

Whit Monday was never celebrated in Scotland.

Did you know?

In 2012, the Spring Bank holiday was moved to early June to allow a 4 day weekend for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

This day is also a public holiday in Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man and Jersey.

Bank Holidays

On Bank Holidays, generally on a Monday, some shops and banks are closed. Shops that open may follow different trading hours than normal and transport may run on a reduced schedule. There will be no postal service.

Bank holidays were first introduced by the Bank Holidays Act of 1871, which designated four holidays in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five in Scotland.

These were Easter Monday, the first Monday in August, the 26th December, and Whit Monday (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and New Year's Day, Good Friday, the first Monday in May, the first Monday in August, and Christmas Day (Scotland).