As the New Year approaches, many of us may be getting organised and wondering what bank holidays we can look forward to in 2025.
The Government has confirmed the dates for all of the bank holidays in 2025, with many falling on different dates than this year.
When the usual date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the ‘substitute day’ is normally the following Monday.
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As always, the first bank holiday of 2025 falls on New Year’s Day (January 1). The Easter bank holidays next year will see Good Friday observed on April 18 while Easter Monday will in-turn fall on April 21.
May will see two bank holidays, with the first, Early May bank holiday, falling on May 5 and the second Spring bank holiday coming three weeks later on May 28.
As the Twelfth of July falls on a Saturday in 2025, the substitute day will be Monday, July 14.
The Summer bank holiday comes on August 25, while Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on the same dates every year.
Meanwhile, the UK might be in for an additional Bank Holiday in 2025 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Reports suggest that a four-day weekend could be planned to mark this significant moment in history.
The festivities are expected to take place around May 8 next year, honouring Victory in Europe Day – the day Germany surrendered in 1945. It will also pay tribute to August 15, the day Japan admitted defeat.
Rumours are circulating that the occasion could be marked between May 9 and 12 or linked with the existing summer bank holiday on August 25 for a four-day break. A majority of people have expressed their support for a new bank holiday.
Here is a full list of the bank holiday dates confirmed so far in Northern Ireland for 2025:
1 January – New Year’s Day
17 March – St Patrick’s Day
18 April- Good Friday
21 April – Easter Monday
5 May – Early May bank holiday
26 May – Spring bank holiday
14 July – Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day) (substitute day)
25 August – Summer bank holiday
25 December – Christmas Day
26 December – Boxing Day
Special bank holidays
There are laws that allow the dates of bank holidays to be changed, or other holidays to be declared, for example to celebrate special occasions.
Time off for employees
You don’t have a statutory right to paid leave on bank and public holidays, though many people get the day off work. Any right to time off or extra pay for working on a bank holiday depends on the terms of your contract of employment.
Find out more about your right to paid leave here.
British Summer Time
British Summer Time (BST) starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October, at 1.00 am Greenwich Mean Time (GMT):
- in spring the clocks go forward, losing an hour – at 1.00 am GMT the UK moves to 2.00 am BST
- in autumn the clocks go back, giving an extra hour – at 2.00 am BST the UK moves to 1.00 am GMT
This coming year the summer time periods begin and end on the following dates:
- clocks go forward – 30 March
- clocks go back – 26 October
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