When is the next Bank Holiday? Full list of national holiday dates for the UK and Ireland revealed

24 May 2019, 13:41 | Updated: 24 May 2019, 13:46

Already planning your next long weekend off? These are the key dates to pop in your diary.

The Easter break may have been and gone but there are plenty more bank holidays on the horizon for 2019, with one approaching very quickly.

Those bonus extra days give workers long weekends without having to use up precious holiday, making them popular among busy Brits.

So when is the next bank holiday? How many do we get? And are the holiday dates the same in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland?

Here's a full list of national holiday dates for the UK and Ireland so you can decide how to spend them.

2019 Bank and Public Holidays:

New Year’s Day: Tuesday 1 January

New Year’s Holiday: Wednesday 2 January (Scotland only)

St Patrick’s Day: Monday 18 March (Northern Ireland and Ireland only)

Good Friday: Friday 19 April

Easter Monday: Monday 22 April (England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland only)

Early May bank holiday: Monday 6 May

Spring bank holiday: Monday 27 May (UK only)

June bank Holiday: Monday 3 June (Ireland only)

Battle of the Boyne: Friday 12 July (Northern Ireland only)

Summer bank holiday: Monday 5 August (Scotland and Ireland only)

Summer bank holiday: Monday 26 August (England, Wales and Northern Ireland only)

October bank holiday: Monday 28 October (Ireland only)

St Andrew’s Day: Monday 2 December (Scotland only)

Christmas Day: Wednesday 25 December

Boxing Day/St Stephens Day: Thursday 26 December

When is the next bank holiday?

The next bank holiday date to mark in your diary is May 27th, 2019.

This is officially known as the Spring bank holiday, which is an annual occasion.

What is a bank holiday?

A bank holiday is a UK public holiday, named because banks cease to trade on said days.

The concept was first established in 1871 by Liberal MP John Lubbock.

Historically, workers received four extra days off a year – Easter Monday, the first Monday in August, Whit Monday and Boxing Day – but more have been added since.

Now, the UK has a total of eight bank holidays, including Good Friday Christmas Day and New Year's Day.