Most schools in England finish on Friday 18 December 2026 and go back on Monday 4 January 2027. Inside that window, the warm places within a short flight are Cape Verde, Egypt's Red Sea coast, the Canaries, Madeira and southern Morocco — and every one of them is dearer that fortnight than in the weeks either side.
- England: most councils break up Friday 18 December and return Monday 4 January. Scotland runs later — Glasgow returns on 5 January and Edinburgh on 6 January.
- Within seven hours, Sal averages 26°C in December, Hurghada 24°C, and Tenerife and Lanzarote 22°C.
- Tenerife, Lanzarote and Sharm el-Sheikh have a nonstop from every one of the ten UK airports we track.
- Cyprus and southern Türkiye come off our boards in December: a cheap fare there that month is cheap for a reason.
- The Canaries and Madeira keep British time, so New Year arrives at the same moment it does at home.
Christmas is the one fortnight of the winter when almost every family in Britain is free at the same time, and the whole of the warm half of the map knows it. The Canaries, Egypt, the Gulf and the Caribbean all have their most expensive weeks of the year between the last day of term and the first day back.
That does not make it the wrong time to go. It makes the choice of where, from which airport, and on which days count for more than it does at any other point in the year — and those are the three things this guide is about.
When Are the Christmas School Holidays in 2026?
Council dates apply formally to community and voluntary-controlled schools; academies and free schools set their own, usually close by. Check your child's own school calendar — and its INSET days — before you pay for anything.
| Nation | Most common dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| England | Last day Fri 18 Dec 2026 · back Mon 4 Jan 2027 | The dates Manchester and the London boroughs publish, and the pattern most councils follow. |
| Scotland | Holiday from Mon 21 Dec 2026 · back Tue 5 or Wed 6 Jan 2027 | Glasgow returns on 5 January, Edinburgh on 6 January. |
| Northern Ireland | Around Mon 21 Dec 2026 – Fri 1 Jan 2027 | Individual schools set their own dates within Department of Education guidance. |
Two things follow from the calendar. For English families the holiday opens on Saturday 19 December and closes on Sunday 3 January, and those are the two days the whole country tries to fly. And Scottish families have a day or two more in January than anyone else, which puts their return flight outside the English rush.
Where Is Warm at Christmas?
These are the average daytime highs for December — the figure we show on every destination page, not a forecast and not the annual average. The flight time is the nonstop time from London; the last column counts how many of the ten UK airports we price have a nonstop there.
| Destination | December high | Flight from London | Nonstop from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sal, Cape Verde | 26°C | 6h 12m | 6 of 10 UK airports |
| Hurghada, Egypt | 24°C | 5h 32m | All 10 (Edinburgh seasonally) |
| Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt | 23°C | 5h 30m | All 10 |
| Tenerife | 22°C | 4h 16m | All 10 |
| Lanzarote | 22°C | 4h 03m | All 10 |
| Agadir, Morocco | 21°C | 3h 42m | 8 of 10 |
| Madeira | 20°C | 3h 44m | 9 of 10 |
| Dubai | 26°C | 7h 05m | 6 of 10 |
Further out, the long-haul warm spots are warmer again: the Maldives and Sri Lanka average 30°C in December, Phuket 31°C, and Jamaica and Cancún 28–29°C. They are also where the Christmas premium is steepest — see the section on minimum stays below.
For the full ranking, with the cheapest December fare we have measured beside each place, see where's hot in December. For the New Year week itself, January is the same list a degree or two cooler.
Not on Our Boards in December: Cyprus and Türkiye
Every UK airport we price has a nonstop to Paphos and to Antalya, and in December the fares can look like a bargain. We stop publishing them for the month. Paphos averages 19°C in December and Antalya and Dalaman 16°C, and on both coasts deep winter is when the resorts stand down: hotels close rather than discount, the boats stop, and the sea is too cold for most people to get in. It is a pleasant place to walk; it is not the holiday a Christmas-week price implies.
The same logic takes Mauritius off the board from January to March, for the cyclone season, while leaving it on for December, when it averages 29°C.
Seeing In the New Year
The time difference matters more on 31 December than on any other night of the trip. Tenerife, Lanzarote and Madeira all keep British time, so midnight there is midnight at home and the video call to the family works without anyone doing arithmetic. Sal is an hour behind; Egypt is two hours ahead and Dubai four.
Madeira is the one to book early if New Year is the point of the trip. Funchal's fireworks over the bay — once a world record holder — book the island out months ahead, and at several times its normal rate.
Five Ways to Pay Less
Go before the holiday, if you can
The first half of December is warm, quiet and among the cheapest weeks of the season in the Canaries and Egypt. If you are not tied to the school calendar, a week in early December followed by Christmas at home is the same sunshine for considerably less.
Avoid the first and last weekends
For English families, Saturday 19 December and Sunday 3 January are the days everyone wants. Flying out on the Sunday or Monday, or coming back on the Friday or Saturday, moves you off the busiest departures of the fortnight.
Price more than your nearest airport
We price ten UK airports separately, and the gap between them for the same destination can run to three figures. Your airport's own page — Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow or any of the others on the airport comparison — shows what it costs from there against the cheapest in the country.
Look past Tenerife
The Canaries take the lion's share of Britain's Christmas demand. Sal is warmer, Agadir is closer, and Madeira is quieter away from New Year's Eve — and all three fly direct from most UK airports.
Read the minimum-stay rules on long-haul
In the Maldives and in Jamaica, Christmas and New Year are the steepest fortnight of the year, and resorts impose minimum stays — in the Maldives, often compulsory gala dinners too. Check both before comparing a hotel price, because the cheapest-looking rate often cannot be booked for the nights you want.
Where is hottest at Christmas within a short flight?
Sal in Cape Verde, at an average December high of 26°C and about six hours from London. Egypt's Red Sea coast is next, with Hurghada at 24°C and Sharm el-Sheikh at 23°C, both around five and a half hours away.
Is Tenerife warm enough at Christmas?
It averages 22°C in December — warm enough for the beach in the south of the island on most days, and cooler and cloudier in the north. It is shirt-sleeve weather, not a heatwave.
Can I fly direct from my local airport at Christmas?
For Tenerife, Lanzarote and Sharm el-Sheikh, almost certainly: all ten UK airports we track have a nonstop. For Sal and Dubai, six of the ten do. Each route page, such as Glasgow to Tenerife, names the airlines.
See what December costs from your airport
Every warm destination we price, ranked by its December temperature, with the cheapest December fare we have measured from ten UK airports.
Where's hot in December
