August Bank Holiday 2023

Origins
The August bank holiday goes back to the Bank Holidays Act 1871, the law that created the first four English bank holidays. Sir John Lubbock, the MP behind it, originally set the summer holiday on the first Monday in August. It was so popular that for a time the days were nicknamed St Lubbock's Days.

Why the date moved
In 1965 the government trialled shifting the English holiday to the end of the month, on the argument that the weather held better and the school summer break ended more tidily. The change was made permanent by the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971. Scotland kept the original first Monday, which is why the two dates still differ.

Scotland is different
This is the one bank holiday where the date genuinely splits the UK. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland it is the last Monday in August; in Scotland it is the first. That puts three or four weeks between them, depending on the year. Scottish local authorities also set their own trades holidays, so the August Monday is observed unevenly across the country.

What happens on the day
It is the last long weekend before Christmas for most of the UK, and on RAC figures one of the busiest getaway weekends of the year on the roads. The Notting Hill Carnival fills the London bank holiday weekend, and it is the traditional slot for summer fairs, festivals and the end of the seaside season.

No substitute day needed
Because the holiday is defined as a Monday rather than a fixed date, it can never fall at a weekend, so the substitute day rule never applies to it. That sets it apart from Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, which are tied to dates and are moved to the following weekday whenever they land on a Saturday or Sunday.

UK bank holidays 2023