London Easter Monday opening times — are Tesco, Aldi, Waitrose, Asda and McDonald’s open today, and how does it actually work across Britain?

London Easter Monday opening times matter because today, Monday 6 April 2026, sits outside the standard retail cycle. It is neither a normal trading day nor a shutdown. Instead, it marks a post-Easter reset: large stores in England and Wales were required to close on Easter Sunday under Sunday trading law, and now reopen on reduced, location-specific hours. As a result, Tesco, Aldi, Waitrose & Partners, Asda and McDonald's are operating across London and the wider UK today, but within a shortened bank-holiday framework rather than a full weekday schedule, reports The WP Times.

The legal structure defines the day. In England and Wales, large shops above 280 square metres must close on Easter Sunday, which shifts demand into Monday instead of distributing it across the weekend. Easter Monday therefore acts as a controlled restart: supermarkets reopen on reduced hours, while convenience stores, petrol-station retail and food chains maintain continuity into the evening.

Why London feels different on Easter Monday

London does not simply “open again”. It reopens under pressure. The capital combines dense residential demand, transport movement through major rail hubs and airports, tourist footfall, and a backlog created by Sunday closures at many large-format stores. In practical terms, that usually means the first half of the day is the most efficient period for a full supermarket shop, while the later afternoon and evening shift more heavily toward smaller stores, delivery and fast food. That pattern is not a legal rule, but it follows directly from the shorter holiday hours visible across major chains today.

A second London-specific point is that chain-level headlines can mislead. Two Tesco stores in Greater London can behave very differently depending on whether they are a superstore or a convenience branch. The same is true for Waitrose, Sainsbury’s Local, McDonald’s city-centre restaurants and Shell-linked grocery formats. So the right question is not simply “Is Tesco open?” but “Which Tesco format, at which address, and until what hour today?”

What the big chains are doing today

Here is the clearest way to read the system on Monday 6 April 2026.

Tesco is open today, but hours vary sharply by format and site. Tesco’s own store locator says bank-holiday and Easter opening times vary by branch. One London example, Lewisham Superstore at 290-290A Lewisham Road, SE13 7PA, is listed for Monday at 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, while a nearby Tesco Express at 215-223 Lewisham Way, SE4 1UY, is shown with a much longer operating day. That is the core Easter Monday Tesco pattern in London: larger stores often close earlier, smaller convenience branches run later.

Aldi is also open today, but again on special Easter Monday hours that are shorter than standard trading in many branches. Aldi’s London store page for Unit 2 Cork Tree Way lists Monday 6 April 2026 as 08:00–20:00 under special opening hours. That is a useful benchmark for the discounter segment: open, functional, but clearly not an unlimited late-night shopping window.

Waitrose & Partners is open, but the company itself directs shoppers to its branch finder because opening times, including bank holidays, vary by store. In London, this matters a lot because branches split between traditional supermarkets and smaller Little Waitrose locations. For example, Holloway Road, 366 Holloway Road, London N7 6PA, is listed in Waitrose’s branch finder, while Little Waitrose at Shell sites can run much longer hours, including 24-hour examples in the broader London network. In other words, “Waitrose” in London is not one operating model.

Asda is open and, in many cases, trades later than several rivals today. Asda Feltham, on Tilley Road, Feltham TW13 4BH, is listed as closed on Easter Sunday and open on Monday 6 April from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. That longer Monday window is important because Asda can absorb late-day grocery demand after some rival large stores have already closed. Asda’s page also shows grocery delivery integrations and same-day options through partners, which adds another layer of access on a bank-holiday schedule.

Sainsbury’s is open today, with multiple official store pages showing Easter Monday 6 April 2026 hours of 08:00–20:00 for superstores, including Kings Mall, Crystal Palace, Dulwich, Lee Green, Charlton Riverside and Wandsworth. That is one of the clearest recurring patterns visible across the chain today: Easter Sunday closure at many large stores, followed by an 8am-to-8pm restart on Easter Monday.

Morrisons is open today, but many larger stores are not running full normal hours. Official Morrisons store pages for Hyde, Croydon and Watford each show Easter Monday 6 April 2026 hours of 7:00am–8:00pm. Morrisons Daily convenience branches are a different proposition, with the company advertising extended hours and local convenience positioning, so late access is often better in the smaller-format network than in the supermarket estate.

McDonald’s is open across the UK network, but the chain’s own position is that individual restaurant hours and services vary by location and should be checked in the locator. McDonald’s says more than 600 UK restaurants are open 24/7, and its location pages emphasise that customers can check whether a branch offers Drive Thru, Click and Serve or McDelivery. That makes McDonald’s one of the most reliable evening and late-night fallback layers after supermarket trading has thinned out.

Address examples in and around London

For readers who want concrete examples rather than vague national summaries, these are verified chain examples from official store pages and locators for Monday 6 April 2026:

How it actually works across Britain

Across Britain, Easter Monday is best understood as a layered access model rather than a simple “open/closed” binary. Large supermarkets return first, but on compressed hours. Premium and discount chains both reopen, though discounters often keep tighter holiday windows. Convenience stores and petrol-station-linked food retail run as the continuity layer. Fast food, coffee, delivery and app-based ordering act as the stabiliser once mainstream grocery sites begin to close.

That is why people often misread the day. One group assumes “bank holiday” means broad closure; another assumes “stores are open” means normal Monday behaviour. Both are wrong. The more accurate description is this: Britain’s retail system is open today, but on a shorter clock, with greater dependence on branch-level checking and a stronger role for convenience formats later in the day.

Best time to shop in London today

For a full supermarket run in London, the safest window is the morning and early lunchtime period, before stock pressure builds and before early-closing branches start tightening the day. The operational risk rises later not because London “shuts”, but because the balance of the system changes: larger supermarket formats fall away first, then shoppers get pushed toward convenience stores, delivery apps and restaurant chains. The exact hour depends on the postcode and the chain, but the principle is consistent across the examples above.

A practical reading of today in London is therefore straightforward. If you need a full basket, go early. If you need a top-up, you have more flexibility. If you leave it until the evening, access still exists — but increasingly through smaller formats, delivery and McDonald’s rather than through the full supermarket estate.

London Easter Monday opening times follow a clear structure. After mandatory closure of large stores on Easter Sundayin England and Wales, retail reopens on Monday with reduced, branch-dependent hours. Tesco, Aldi, Waitrose & Partners, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and McDonald's are open, but operate within different time windows and formats.

Britain is open today, but on a compressed bank-holiday model. Availability depends on store type, location and time of day, with the sharpest pressure and fastest stock turnover in London.

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