When is the August bank holiday? these are Scotland's bank holiday dates for 2020 – and whether you can book a trip away

Some restrictions will still apply for this year’s summer bank holiday.

Bank holidays usually see beaches across the UK packed with daytrippers.

When is the 2020 August bank holiday?

This year, Scotland’s summer bank holiday will fall on Monday, August 3.

Coronavirus restrictions have gradually begun to ease in time for the bank holiday, but some rules do remain in place to keep everybody safe.

Will we still be in lockdown in August?

Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are all tentatively beginning to ease lockdown restrictions, albeit at different paces.

The hope is that cases will continue to fall, allowing life to slowly return to normal for people across the UK. In Scotland, you are now permitted to meet with up to two other households at a time, indoors – up to 8 people in total. This includes overnight stays.

Outdoors, you can meet with up to four other households at a time – up to 15 people in total. This means that it’s possible to stay overnight somewhere with up to two other households (no more than 8 people) or meet outdoors with up to four households.

You should not meet with more than four other households in a day.

Further easing of restrictions will continue to depend on the spread of coronavirus, and if cases spike once again, people across the UK could be spending bank holiday under renewed lockdown restrictions.

Several countries, including Spain, have seen cases spike again after relaxation of lockdown restrictions, causing some to worry about their holiday plans.

Officials in Scotland, and across the UK, will be carefully observing case numbers to determine whether a return to lockdown measures will be necessary.

Can I book a holiday?

All holiday accommodation – whether self-contained or otherwise – is now open for bookings in Scotland, with many people opting for a staycation this summer.

Scotland has now also agreed a number of “air bridges” with other countries, meaning you can holiday abroad in these places without having to enter mandatory quarantine on your return.

You should refund policies carefully if booking a holiday, however, and consider taking out travel insurance in case coronavirus restrictions mean you can’t go on your planned break.

When is the next bank holiday after August?

Normally, there would not be another bank holiday in Scotland until St Andrew’s Day on November 30.

The idea of introducing another bank holiday in October as a boost for the tourism industry was suggested earlier this year by tourism group, Visit Britain. Its acting head, Patricia Yates, told MPs in May that the tourism industry had missed out on two crucial bank holidays in May, thanks to the coronavirus lockdown.

At the time, however, the government warned that an extra bank holiday would come at a huge cost to the UK economy when it was already struggling.

At the start of June, the Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy department ruled out the idea of an extra bank holiday, claiming that it would come at a cost of £1 billion to the economy.