Last Recommended Christmas Postage Dates for UK Royal Mail – 2016
If you have cards or presents to send either within the United Kingdom or further afield, these are the 2016 postage dates you need to know to for a pre-Christmas delivery using the Royal Mail.
These dates can never be 100% guaranteed so we recommend to not leave your Christmas posting to the last minute, where possible!
Don’t forget to also check out our list of all the major retailers’ last Christmas posting dates.
| Services | Dates |
|---|---|
| International Services | |
| International Economy (formerly known as Surface Mail) | |
| Wednesday 28 September | All non-European destinations (except Middle East,
South Africa, Far East,the USA and Canada) |
| Thursday 29 September | Middle and Far East (except Hong Kong and Singapore) |
| Thursday 13 October | South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, USA and Canada |
| Thursday 3 November | Eastern Europe, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Malta and Iceland |
| Thursday 17 November | Western Europe |
| International Standard (formerly Airmail) and all
International Tracking and Signature Services (formerly Airsure® and International Signed For®) |
|
| Saturday 3 December | Africa, Middle East |
| Wednesday 7 December | Cyprus, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Eastern Europe (except Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia), Turkey, Malta |
| Thursday 8 December | Caribbean, Central & South America |
| Saturday 10 December | Greece, Australia, New Zealand |
| Wednesday 14 December | Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland |
| Thursday 15 December | Canada, Finland, Sweden, USA |
| Friday 16 December | Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland |
| Saturday 17 December | Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg |
| Contract Surface Air Lift | |
| Friday 11 November | South America, Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Far East, New Zealand, Australia |
| Friday 18 November | USA, Canada, Middle East |
| International Standard HM Forces Mail -
British Forces Post Office® (BFPO) |
|
| Monday 28 November | Airmail to Operational BFPOs |
| Monday 12 December | Airmail to Static BFPOs |
| UK Services | |
| UK Inland Services | |
| Tuesday 20 December | 2nd Class and Royal Mail Signed For® |
| Wednesday 21 December | 1st Class and Royal Mail Signed For® |
| Thursday 22 December | Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed® |
| Friday 23 December | Special Delivery Saturday Guaranteed |
Christmas deliveries and collections
| Christmas Eve
Saturday 24 December |
Normal deliveries and Saturday collections |
| Christmas Day
Sunday 25 December |
No deliveries or collections |
| Boxing Day
Monday 26 December |
No deliveries or collections |
| Boxing Day
Tuesday 27 December |
No deliveries or collections |
| Wednesday 28 December | Normal deliveries or collections |
| Thursday 29 December | Normal deliveries and collections |
| Friday 30 December | Normal deliveries and collections |
| New Year’s Eve
Saturday 31 December |
Normal deliveries and Saturday collections |
| New Year’s Day
Sunday 1 January (Bank Holiday) |
No deliveries or collections |
| Bank Holiday
Monday 2 January |
No deliveries or collections |
| Bank Holiday in Scotland
Tuesday 3 January |
Normal deliveries and collections
No deliveries or collections in Scotland |
| Wednesday 4 January | Normal deliveries and collections in all areas |
