This is everything you need to know about the spring bank holiday 2020

With the May Day bank holiday now over and VE Day celebrations done and dusted, everyone is wondering when the next day off in May is this year.

There are two bank holidays in May this year, with the next one to come being the late May bank holiday.

This is everything you need to know about it.

What’s the next bank holiday in May?

The next bank holiday this month takes place on Monday 25 May.

While VE Day saw a change in date from Monday 4 May to Friday 8 May, the spring bank holiday will keep its regular date of Monday 25 May.

While bank holidays can vary across the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have Monday 25 May in their bank holiday calendar this year.

What is the spring bank holiday?

The spring bank holiday, also known as the late May bank holiday since it takes place at the end of the month, replaced the previous holiday, known as Whit Monday, in 1971.

Whit Monday (or Pentecost Monday) was a holiday marked after Pentecost, a Christian celebration that takes place 50 days after Easter Sunday.

It serves to commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks.

Whit Monday would generally take place around the start of June but it was replaced with the spring bank holiday in the UK in 1971 by the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, following a trial period from 1965 to 1970.