This page collects the 2026 Christmas dates exactly as each carrier and retailer publishes them on its own pages, read on 10 November 2026, and says plainly where a date has not been published. Nothing is carried over from last year.
Short answer: Black Friday 2026 is Friday 27 November and Cyber Monday is Monday 30 November. Royal Mail has published its last UK posting dates for Christmas 2026: Friday 18 December for 2nd Class and 2nd Class Signed For, Saturday 19 December for Royal Mail Tracked 48, Monday 21 December for 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For and Royal Mail Tracked 24, and Wednesday 23 December for Special Delivery Guaranteed. Parcelforce's last dates are Monday 21 December (express48) and Tuesday 22 December (express10, expressAM, express24). Evri's are Saturday 19 December for Standard and Monday 21 December for Next Day, both by 11am at a ParcelShop or Locker. None of the fourteen big UK retailers we checked had published a dated 2026 Christmas last order date on 10 November; John Lewis shows dates without a year.
Last posting dates for Christmas 2026: UK carriers
Each row quotes the carrier's own Christmas page, read on 10 November 2026. Royal Mail adds: "Last posting dates are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change."
| Carrier | Service | Last posting or drop-off date (as published) | Source read date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Mail | 2nd Class, 2nd Class Signed For | Friday 18 December | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Royal Mail | Royal Mail Tracked 48 | Saturday 19 December (also the last date for Tracked Returns 48 "to arrive back with the sender before Christmas") | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Royal Mail | 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For, Royal Mail Tracked 24 | Monday 21 December | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Royal Mail | Special Delivery Guaranteed | Wednesday 23 December | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Parcelforce Worldwide | express48, express48large | Monday 21 December | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Parcelforce Worldwide | express10, expressAM, express24 | Tuesday 22 December | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Evri | Courier collection from home | Friday 18th December, "last day for courier collections" | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Evri | Standard, ParcelShop or Locker | Saturday 19th December, drop off "by 11am" | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Evri | Next Day, ParcelShop or Locker | Monday 21st December, drop off "by 11am" | 10 Nov 2026 |
| DPD UK | Own pages | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026. DPD's 2026 schedule lists only closed days: Christmas Day Friday 25 December, Boxing Day Saturday 26 December and Monday 28 December (substitute day) for England, Scotland and Wales | 10 Nov 2026 |
| DPD at Post Office counters | DPD 2 Day / Next Day / Gold | Saturday 19 December / Monday 21 December / Wednesday 23 December ("Remote postcodes should be sent earlier") | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Yodel and InPost UK | All services | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | 10 Nov 2026 |
Parcelforce's Christmas page is written for account customers; for personal (non-account) customers it links to Royal Mail's page, which lists the same Parcelforce dates. The Post Office's 2026 page lists the same Royal Mail, Evri and Parcelforce dates for branch handovers and adds: "Parcels must be received before our branches' final acceptance times." The DPD dates come only from that page, because DPD's own site had not published a last sending date.
International last posting dates
Royal Mail's 2026 last posting dates PDF for personal customers prints no international dates. It sends senders to its country guides and says: "Post items and gifts early, particularly for International deliveries." Evri has published 2026 international dates for its popular destinations:
| Destination (Evri) | Last ParcelShop drop-off | Last courier collection |
|---|---|---|
| Ireland, France, Germany, Spain | 9/12/2026 | 8/12/2026 |
| USA, Canada, Australia | 2/12/2026 | 1/12/2026 |
The Post Office says: "International last posting dates for Evri & DPD will be published as soon as they are available."
Retailers' Christmas last order dates for 2026
Each row is from the retailer's own delivery or help page, read on 10 November 2026. Where the page had no dated 2026 Christmas cut-off, the row says "not published for 2026" and gives the everyday next-day rule the page does print, so you know the normal cut-off.
| Retailer | Christmas last order date 2026 | Everyday next-day rule (as published) | Read date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASOS | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | Next Day Delivery £5.95, "Delivery is Monday to Sunday (not public holidays)"; "Subject to placing your order before specific cut-off times. Details available in checkout." | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Next | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026. Its Christmas page prints no year and its "Monday 22nd December" is not a 2026 date (22 December 2026 is a Tuesday) | not quoted | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Boohoo | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | "Order by 12am for Next Day Delivery, 7 days a week." | 10 Nov 2026 |
| PrettyLittleThing | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | "PLT - Order by midnight for Next Day delivery. Monday to Sunday (not including bank holidays)" | 10 Nov 2026 |
| H&M UK | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | "During high season and sale these may be extended or unavailable. Up to date delivery times and options will be shown at checkout." | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Zara UK | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | "Next day delivery guaranteed - 4.95 GBP"; "some of the previous options may not be available depending on the time you place your order" | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Marks and Spencer | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | "UK Next Day Delivery and UK Nominated Day Delivery (excluding Northern Ireland) are available for £5.99 (excluding furniture)." | 10 Nov 2026 |
| John Lewis | Not confirmed for 2026 as of 10 Nov 2026: the Christmas delivery page shows December cut-off dates but prints no year, and the same dates were on it in November 2025, so we do not present them as 2026 dates. Check the page or the date at checkout | not quoted | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Argos | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | not quoted | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Amazon UK | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | not quoted | 10 Nov 2026 |
| JD Sports | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 (page read in a headless browser) | Next-day: "Order before 8pm to get it the next day."; Express: "get your order within 2 working days" | 10 Nov 2026 |
| River Island | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026. Its Christmas delivery page prints no year and still refers to returns "until 14th January 2025" | not quoted | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Gymshark | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | not quoted | 10 Nov 2026 |
| Oh Polly | Not published for 2026 as of 10 November 2026 | not quoted | 10 Nov 2026 |
This page is updated as retailers publish. Until then, the date that counts is the one your checkout shows: ASOS, H&M and Zara all say cut-offs or delivery dates are shown at checkout.
How last posting dates work
A last posting date is the last day a carrier recommends handing an item over for it to arrive before Christmas Day. It is a recommendation, not a promise: Royal Mail says its dates are "subject to change", and Parcelforce calls them "a guide only".
- The date is about handover. It is the day the item enters the network: postbox, counter, ParcelShop or courier collection. Evri's dates also carry a time, 11am.
- Remote addresses need longer. Parcelforce says "extended delivery times exist for outlying areas", and the Post Office says remote postcodes "should be sent earlier".
- A retailer's last order date is a different date. The retailer sets it, allowing for its own picking and packing.
What happens if you miss the date
Missing a last posting date does not stop the item: it still travels and is delivered after the Christmas break, in the normal way. No carrier on this page publishes a promised arrival date for items posted after its last posting date, so we do not give one. If you have missed the date for one service, look at the faster services in the table, whose last dates are later: Royal Mail's Special Delivery Guaranteed runs to Wednesday 23 December. For shop orders, the alternative is a store collection service such as John Lewis Click & Collect, or an e-gift card.
How to read the tracking in the busy weeks
In December a parcel can sit on one scan longer than usual while volumes peak. What each Royal Mail scan means is on Royal Mail tracking statuses; for the courier networks see Evri tracking statuses and DPD tracking statuses. For retailer-specific delivery options, see ASOS delivery times, Boohoo delivery times and PrettyLittleThing delivery times. Sending to or from the US? The sister page is holiday shipping deadlines 2026.
Returning a Christmas gift
Many retailers extend their return windows over Christmas, and the end dates differ by a month or more. The 2026 windows each retailer has published, and who has not, are on Christmas returns 2026.
For merchants
Shoppers ask "will it arrive before Christmas?" at checkout and again after they order. Pango is an AI-native, agentic operating system for e-commerce logistics; its delivery promise controls the shipping methods, prices and ETAs shown at checkout, and its branded tracking pages and proactive notifications keep the shopper updated on the merchant's own domain, including when a parcel is delayed.
The bottom line
Royal Mail, Parcelforce and Evri have published their 2026 Christmas dates, from Friday 18 December (Royal Mail 2nd Class, Evri courier collections) to Wednesday 23 December (Special Delivery Guaranteed). DPD, Yodel and InPost had not; the Post Office lists DPD counter dates. None of fourteen big UK retailers had a dated 2026 last order date on 10 November, so trust your checkout date and post early.
Updated 10 November 2026. This page is revised as carriers and retailers publish or change their 2026 dates; the read date in each row is the day the page was last checked.
