New Year’s Day: Is the 3rd of January a bank holiday?

8 December 2021, 14:21

January 3rd 2022 is an official bank holiday [Alamy]. Picture: Alamy

By Zoe Adams

Christmas and New Year can be an exhausting time for all so we need all the bank holidays we can get, including January 3rd 2022.

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New Year’s Day is one of the most needed bank holidays of the year - especially after a festive season full of indulging and a New Year’s Eve full of dancing - so is the 3rd of January a bank holiday in 2022?

You’ll be happy to hear the UK do indeed get to spend the day off work, if they’re lucky enough, on the 3rd January 2022 as it’s classed as an official bank holiday.

The confusion comes after Christmas and New Year’s Day fall over a weekend, meaning the public not only get the day off after, but the official bank holiday is pushed back to the Monday, giving us all a well-deserved, three-day weekend.

Picture caption 2: New Year’s Day’s bank holiday has been pushed back until Monday 3rd [Alamy]. Picture: Alamy

This year, New Year’s Eve falls on Friday 31st December meaning the usual bank holiday date, 1st January arrives on the Saturday. When this happens, the next available weekday, that isn’t also a bank holiday, becomes the substitute day, in this case, 3rd January.

Another example of this is that Christmas Day and Boxing Day this 2021 both fall on a Saturday and Sunday meaning the following Monday and Tuesday become the festive bank holidays.

This all results in a longer break at home to celebrate the festive season with our loved ones.

And as if that wasn’t enough good bank holiday news, 2022 is coming with another holiday surprise as we get an extra day in total.