Discover Scotland - Schlumberger version

Public Holidays Scottish public holidays require most businesses and non-essential services to close. If a bank holiday falls on a weekend, the first working day following will be deemed the bank holiday.

Holiday

Date

New Year’s Day

1 January

2 January

2 January

Good Friday

The Friday before Easter. Changes year to year

The Monday following Easter Sunday. Changes year to year. Scotland does not participate

Easter Monday

First Monday of May.

Early May Bank Holiday

Spring Bank Holiday

Last Monday of May First Monday of August

Summer Bank Holiday

St. Andrew’s Day

First Monday in December or last Monday in November

Christmas Day

Celebrated 25 December

Boxing Day

Celebrated 26 December

Time Zones Local Time Zone

The U.K. is in the Western European Time Zone (WET) which is the same time as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT/UTC+0). The U.K. advances their clocks forward an hour at 1.00 on the last Sunday in March, and then sets their clocks back an hour at 2.00 on the last Sunday in October. When the U.K. sets their clock forward, it is called British Summer Time (BST). There is more daylight in the evenings and less in the mornings. Telling Time The 24-hour-clock is most commonly used to tell time in the U.K. The context of the situation will determine how to say the time. For instance, if the context indicates it is evening, it is acceptable to say it is 5.20 p.m. When confirming an appointment or finding a time for catching a train or plane, 17.20 is used. The U.K. also has a unique format for expressing how far past the hour it is. If the minutes are before thirty, you say twenty past five. If the minutes are over thirty, you would say twenty to six. If it is on the half-hour, you would call it half-six (that is half way past six, therefore 6.30).

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Discovering the U.K.