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The UK will be treated to a rare third bank holiday in a single month next week.
This year, the annual spring bank holiday falls on Monday 29 May. It comes in addition to the early May bank holiday at the start of the month, and the bonus day off that was arranged for the King’s coronation.
While for many bank holidays are a welcome day off work, they also mean a lot of services we typically rely on are reduced. Supermarkets close early, banks – unsurprisingly – are shut, and post is also affected.
Is there post on Monday?
Royal Mail does not collect or deliver post on bank holidays. Royal Mail says: “We deliver and collect your mail on most days of the year, including Saturdays. However, we don’t usually deliver or collect on bank and public holidays.”
That means anything you post on Saturday or Sunday will not arrive until Tuesday at the earliest.
While most Post Office branches will be closed on Monday, too, they will be open as usual on Saturday 27 May, and are always closed on Sundays.
Many private companies, such as Amazon, will deliver as normal on bank holiday Monday.
Why do we have the spring bank holiday?
The second May bank holiday – or in 2023’s case, the third – exists because it was a day off in the Christian calendar that fell after Pentecost, also known as Whit Sunday, which falls exactly seven weeks after Easter.
In 1971, the bank holiday was moved to always be on the last Monday in May.
This bank holiday is rare in that, unlike the May Day bank holiday and the August bank holiday, it doesn’t have an official name. Most people go with spring bank holiday or late May bank holiday.
When are the remaining bank holidays in 2023?
Bank holiday dates vary slightly across the UK. England and Wales always have the same bank holidays, but Scotland and Northern Ireland have some of their own dates.
For example, Scotland’s summer bank holiday falls at the start of August, rather than the end of the month.
All four nations used to mark the same date, following the implementation of the Bank Holidays Act of 1871, introduced by the Liberal politician, Sir John Lubbock.
However, the date for England, Wales and Northern Ireland moved permanently to the end of August in 1971, following a trial period which started in 1965.
England and Wales bank holidays 2023
- Monday 29 May – spring bank holiday
- Monday 28 August – summer bank holiday
- Monday 25 December – Christmas Day
- Tuesday 26 December – Boxing Day
Scotland bank holidays 2023
- Monday 29 May – spring bank holiday
- Monday 7 August – summer bank holiday
- Thursday 30 November – St Andrew’s Day
- Monday 25 December – Christmas Day
- Tuesday 26 December – Boxing Day
Northern Ireland bank holidays 2023
- Monday 29 May – spring bank holiday
- Wednesday 12 July – Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day)
- Monday 28 August – summer bank holiday
- Monday 25 December – Christmas Day
- Tuesday 26 December – Boxing Day
For the first time since 2019, both Christmas Day and Boxing Day will be marked with bank holidays on the correct days, after falling on the weekend for three years in a row.
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