Easter 2025 lands on April 20, making it one of the latest Easter Sundays in recent memory. This guide brings together the exact dates, how UK nations and Ireland handle the associated bank holidays, and why Easter falls where it does on the calendar.
Easter Sunday: April 20, 2025 ·
Good Friday: April 18, 2025 ·
Easter Monday: April 21, 2025 ·
UK Bank Holidays: Good Friday and Easter Monday ·
Ireland Public Holidays: Easter Monday only
Quick snapshot
- Easter Sunday 2025 is April 20 (Calendar Date)
- Good Friday 2025 is April 18 (GOV.UK)
- Easter Monday 2025 is April 21 (Personio)
- School closure patterns vary by individual institution
- Transport or retail operating schedules not centrally documented
- Good Friday 2025: April 18
- Easter Sunday 2025: April 20
- Easter Monday 2025: April 21
- Easter Sunday 2026: April 5
- UK nations confirm both Easter dates as bank holidays
- Scotland excludes Easter Monday from its 9 bank holidays
- Ireland’s Republic observes Easter Monday but not Good Friday officially
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Easter Sunday 2025 | April 20 |
| Good Friday 2025 | April 18 |
| Easter Monday 2025 | April 21 |
| Western Calendar Basis | Gregorian |
| Date Range Possible | March 22 – April 25 |
| UK Nations Observing Both Easter Holidays | England, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| UK Nation Without Easter Monday | Scotland |
What are the Easter dates in 2025?
Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday 2025 falls on April 20, confirmed across multiple calendar sources (Calendar Date). This date anchors the entire Easter holiday period — the Friday before and the Monday after are the two days most likely to appear as bank holidays or public holidays across the UK and Ireland. Schools close for at least the long weekend, and many employers offer the two adjacent days as paid leave or reduced operations.
Associated dates
Three dates define the Easter 2025 holiday window: Good Friday on April 18, Easter Sunday on April 20, and Easter Monday on April 21. The pattern is consistent year to year — Easter always falls on a Sunday, with Good Friday the immediately preceding sacred day and Easter Monday the following statutory or customary observance. The spacing means workers and families typically get either a two-day or three-day weekend depending on local arrangements.
What dates are Good Friday and Easter Monday in 2025?
Good Friday date
Good Friday 2025 is confirmed as April 18 across every UK jurisdiction and the Republic of Ireland (GOV.UK, Personio, Flair HR). Seven independent sources cross-verify this date, making it one of the most consistent facts in the holiday calendar. Good Friday is a bank holiday in all four UK nations — England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland — on this date.
Easter Monday date
Easter Monday 2025 is April 21. This date is a bank holiday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (Good Tuesday) and is also designated as a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland (Personio). The critical exception is Scotland, which does not include Easter Monday among its nine bank holidays for 2025. Scotland observes Good Friday on April 18 but treats the following Monday as a regular working day.
Why is Easter so late in 2025?
Comparison to other years
Easter 2025 lands on April 20, which is notably later than Easter 2024, when it fell on March 31. The shift of nearly three weeks affects school term timing, retail planning cycles, and travel booking patterns. Easter 2026 will then snap back to April 5, illustrating how the date swings between early spring and late spring depending on the lunar calendar alignment in any given year.
Calendar factors
The late positioning of Easter 2025 stems from how the lunar cycle interacts with the fixed calendar anchor of March 21. When the first full moon after the equinox occurs late in the lunar month, Easter gets pushed toward the far end of its permissible window. April 20 sits at the late-extreme of that range, which spans from March 22 to April 25. This is not a malfunction — it is how the system is designed to work over the 19-year Metonic cycle.
April 20 is not unusually late — it simply reflects where the first full moon after March 21 fell in 2025. The next notably late Easter will be April 25, the latest possible date, which last occurred in 1943 and will not repeat until 2038.
Why does the date of Easter move around?
Calculation method
Easter’s date is determined by a formula called computus, first standardized at the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE (BBC Bitesize). The rule: Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21, the ecclesiastical vernal equinox. This creates the movable range between March 22 and April 25. The system deliberately uses an ecclesiastical full moon date, not the astronomically exact one — which is why occasionally the actual full moon arrives a day or two after the church’s calculated date.
Historical basis
Before 325 CE, churches used local Jewish calendar dates, which caused Easter to fall on different days in different regions. The Council mandated a unified rule so that all Western Christians would celebrate together. The Computus algorithm that emerged is mathematically elegant: it tracks a 19-year lunar cycle and a 400-year solar cycle to predict full moon dates far into the future. This is the same calculation that powers the Easter tables in the Book of Common Prayer and most digital calendar applications.
The ecclesiastical moon can diverge from the astronomical moon by up to two days. When that happens, Easter computed by the church may fall a week later than an astronomer would predict. Both methods are correct within their own systems — the church’s rule and the astronomer’s observation simply do not always agree.
Does Ireland have Good Friday and Easter Monday off?
Ireland holidays
The Republic of Ireland’s position on Good Friday is unusual: it is not an official public holiday, yet schools and many businesses close anyway (Ireland.com). The Republic designates ten public holidays per year, and Easter Monday is one of them — falling on April 21, 2025 — but Good Friday does not appear on that statutory list. Despite the formal omission, cultural observance is widespread, and retail workers often negotiate closures informally rather than through legislation.
UK comparison
Northern Ireland has 11 bank holidays in 2025, including both Good Friday (April 18) and Easter Monday (April 21) — one more total than England and Wales (Personio). Northern Ireland also observes unique additional holidays such as the St Patrick’s Day substitute on March 17, 2025, and the Battle of the Boyne substitute on July 14, 2025. Scotland has 9 bank holidays total: it takes Good Friday on April 18 but excludes Easter Monday entirely.
Good Friday’s status in the Republic of Ireland creates a patchwork: schools close, but urban shops may stay open, and an increasing number of businesses treat it as a regular workday. Workers should check their employment contracts rather than assume entitlement to the day off.
| Region | Total bank holidays 2025 | Good Friday | Easter Monday |
|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 8 | April 18 ✓ | April 21 ✓ |
| Scotland | 9 | April 18 ✓ | Not a bank holiday |
| Northern Ireland | 11 | April 18 ✓ | April 21 ✓ |
| Republic of Ireland | 10 | Not official, but observed | April 21 ✓ |
Easter 2025 timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 17, 2025 | St Patrick’s Day substitute (Northern Ireland only) |
| April 18, 2025 | Good Friday — bank holiday across UK and observed in Ireland |
| April 20, 2025 | Easter Sunday |
| April 21, 2025 | Easter Monday — bank holiday England, Wales, NI, and Republic of Ireland |
| April 5, 2026 | Easter Sunday 2026 |
| March 28, 2027 | Easter Sunday 2027 |
Confirmed and unclear
Confirmed facts
- Easter Sunday 2025 is April 20
- Good Friday 2025 is April 18 across all UK nations and Ireland
- Easter Monday 2025 is April 21 in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland
- Scotland does not observe Easter Monday as a bank holiday
- Northern Ireland has 11 bank holidays, the most of any UK jurisdiction
- Good Friday is a common law holiday in the UK and a bank holiday in all four UK nations
What’s unclear
- Individual school closure policies vary locally in Ireland and Scotland
- Transport and retail operating hours are not centrally documented for the Easter period
What authorities say
While Good Friday is not an official public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, schools and some businesses do close on that day.
— Ireland.com (Official Tourism Site)
There are 10 confirmed bank holidays in the Republic of Ireland in 2025.
— Personio (HR Platform)
Easter Monday is a bank holiday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland.
— Wikipedia (Encyclopedia)
Related reading: Right to Disconnect Ireland: Guide to Rules and Rights · Tyre Puncture Repair – DIY Guide Costs and UK Safety Rules
As official sources explain the moving date of Easter 2025 falling late on April 20, the Easter bank holiday 2025 guide covers associated UK and Ireland bank holidays precisely.
Frequently asked questions
What days are Easter holidays in 2025?
Good Friday is April 18 and Easter Monday is April 21, 2025. Easter Sunday itself falls on April 20. The two flanking days are the ones most commonly designated as bank holidays or public holidays across the UK and Ireland.
When is Easter 2026?
Easter Sunday 2026 is April 5, notably earlier than the 2025 date of April 20. The shift reflects how Easter moves across the calendar depending on lunar cycle alignment each year.
When is Easter 2028?
Easter Sunday 2028 falls on April 16, placing it closer to the late range of the Easter window. This is earlier than 2025 but later than 2026.
When is Easter 2029?
Easter Sunday 2029 is April 1, placing it in the earlier portion of the Easter window. The date swings across the March–April range across the 19-year lunar cycle.
When is Easter in 2031?
Easter Sunday 2031 is April 13. The 19-year Metonic cycle means Easter dates repeat on similar dates at regular intervals across decades.
Where did bank holidays originate from?
The UK bank holiday system dates to the Bank Holidays Act 1871, which designated specific days when banks could close. Good Friday was already a common law holiday before legislation; Easter Monday became statutory in 1871 alongside other named days. Ireland adapted its own schedule after independence, settling on ten public holidays including Easter Monday.
What is the date of Good Friday 2025?
Good Friday 2025 is April 18. This date is verified by GOV.UK, the primary government authority, and corroborated by multiple independent calendar and HR sources.
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Grace Campbell leads fact-checking, source verification and corrections at Australia Pulse.