Tesco Easter Closures: Plan Your Shop Before April 5th

If you're planning your Easter shopping, Tesco has announced significant changes to opening hours — and you'll need to plan ahead to avoid disappointment.

From April 5th (Easter Sunday), most Tesco large stores across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be completely closed for the day. This is a legal requirement: UK law states that shops over 280 square metres must shut on Easter Sunday. Scotland is the only exception, where large stores will operate as normal.

But the changes don't stop there. Good Friday (April 4th) and Easter Monday (April 7th) also see altered hours:

**Good Friday**: Most large stores open 6am–10pm (except Scotland and Northern Ireland, which trade normal hours)

**Easter Monday**: Most large stores open 8am–6pm in England, Wales and Isle of Man; 8am–8pm in Northern Ireland; normal hours in Scotland

**Express stores**: Smaller Express branches are unaffected and will trade normally throughout Easter. However, the majority of larger Express stores will also have restricted hours.

**What you should do**

With over 3,000 Tesco stores across the UK, opening times vary by location. Don't assume your local branch follows the standard pattern — check before you go.

Use Tesco's online store locator (tesco.com/store-locator) to verify your nearest store's exact opening hours. This also shows petrol station opening times, which can differ from main store hours.

**Plan ahead**

If you rely on your local Tesco for regular shopping, consider doing a bigger shop on Good Friday or the days before Easter Sunday. This is especially important if you depend on the supermarket for essentials like milk, bread or fresh food over the Easter weekend.

The same applies to other supermarket chains — many follow similar Easter closures due to bank holiday rules. Check their websites too if you use multiple shops.

**Where to find help**

Visit your local store's page on Tesco.com to confirm opening times today. If you're unsure how to use the store locator, call your local Tesco directly or ask staff in-store.

Source: Tesco to close all stores for 24 hours in April - but there’s an exception