Easter Weekend Shakes Up Supermarket Hours Across the UK
If you’ve ever left your chocolate shopping to the last minute or realised you’ve forgotten hot cross buns, Easter weekend’s supermarket hours have probably caught you out before. For 2025, the supermarket giants—Easter 2025’s main players like Tesco, Aldi, Sainsbury's, Asda, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, and Morrisons—are locking in their plans for the busy bank holiday period. The upcoming long Easter break stretches from Good Friday on April 18th, through Easter Sunday on April 20th, right until the end of Easter Monday on April 21st.
The most obvious change? Most large supermarkets will close completely on Easter Sunday. This isn’t just tradition—England, Wales, and Northern Ireland all have trading laws that force stores over 280 square metres to shut for 24 hours. So, unless you’re heading to a small local convenience shop, you can expect the big names to pull down the shutters for the day. Smaller branches or city-centre express shops might buck the trend, but don’t count on it without checking first.
Good Friday and Easter Monday bring their own disruptions. Usually, the big retailers shave a couple of hours off their normal schedules, either opening later, closing earlier, or both. For example, a store that normally opens 6am might start at 8am or 9am; the standard 10pm or midnight closing time gets pulled forward too. What does that mean for you? The after-work rush might get even busier and shelves could run low, especially in busy areas. Retailers brace for a spike in demand after these ‘closed’ periods, juggling fresh deliveries and trying to keep up stock.
The UK’s patchwork of opening times means that it’s not just about what brand you shop at, but where exactly you’re shopping. Rural stores—especially in tourist hotspot towns—sometimes stay open a little longer than their city counterparts, hoping to catch families and holidaymakers. In contrast, shops in quieter, residential spots could have the shortest hours to control costs. Then there’s Scotland, where Sunday trading laws are notably looser—meaning shoppers there get a bit more flexibility on Easter Sunday than in the rest of the UK.
Planning Your Easter Shop: What Shoppers Need to Know
With every major supermarket playing by slightly different rules, it can be a struggle to keep track of who is open and when. Online shopping throws in another wrinkle—Easter weekend puts pressure on home delivery and click-and-collect slots, which often book up days (or even weeks) in advance. Many online services won’t offer deliveries or pickups on Easter Sunday at all, so early planning is a must if your fridge needs filling.
If you want to avoid disappointment (or a dinner missing the key ingredients), here’s what to do:
- Check directly with your local store using their official website or mobile app. The big supermarket brands post up-to-date opening times in the run-up to bank holiday weekends. Some even adjust hours on short notice, depending on staff availability or demand.
- Consider booking online delivery or pickup earlier than usual—especially for supermarket hours during Easter 2025. Most retailers say these slots fill up extra fast over Easter.
- If you need something on Easter Sunday, plan to use corner shops or local independents, as the large supermarkets will be closed due to UK trading laws, except in Scotland where rules differ.
So, don’t leave it to chance—these altered bank holiday hours catch out shoppers every year. Easter 2025 promises the same patchwork of opening times, and a little preparation could mean the difference between a stress-free Sunday and a panicked dash for milk or chocolate eggs. Always double-check before setting out, as the only thing you can count on is that things probably won’t be running as normal until Tuesday, April 22.