Christmas 2019 opening hours for Aldi, Tesco, Lidl, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Waitrose

People often scramble to get their hands on the last turkey or booze for New Year parties, and to make it worse, opening hours are all over the place.

With only a few days to go until the big day, shopping for food and last-minute presents can be an absolute nightmare.

To make things a little easier, we’ve put together this list of opening times for all the UK’s major supermarkets from Christmas Eve – December 24 - until New Year’s Day on January 1 2020.

The major stores with differing opening times include Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.

These times can occasionally vary store-to-store, so if you’re unsure we’d advise going to your supermarket’s website and using their store locator to check times.

Tesco opening hours

Shopping hours for the different sizes of Tesco stores will vary. On Christmas Eve most shops will be open from about 6am or 7am until 7pm, but some express stores will close at 10pm.

All Tesco stores are closed on Christmas Day, with most opening from 9am to 6pm on Boxing Day. Express stores will generally be open from 8am to 10pm, while Metro stores will be shut.

Shops will then return to normal opening hours from December 27, although most will have Sunday hours on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Metro stores will be shut on January 1.

Use the Tesco store locator to find opening times for your local store.

Aldi opening hours

Monday December 23 – 8am to 10pm

Christmas Eve – 8am to 6pm

Christmas Day – Closed

Boxing Day – Closed

Friday December 27 and Saturday December 28 – 8am to 8pm

Sunday December 29 – 10am to 4pm

Monday December 30 – 8am to 8pm

New Year’s Eve – 8am to 6pm

New Year’s Day – Closed

Thursday January 2 – 8am to 10pm

Check the opening times of your local Aldi store before visiting.

Asda opening hours

Asda has not yet revealed what its Christmas and New Years opening hours will be, and said they will be announced a week before – will update this page when we know more.

It is likely that the hours will be similar to last Christmas. In 2018 most stores opened at 7am on Christmas Eve and then shut at 6pm or 7pm.

The stores were shut for Christmas Day, and open on Boxing Day from 9am to 6pm.

Most shops returned to normal opening hours between December 27 and 30, and then had reduced hours over New Year’s.

Most larger stores opened from 9am to 6pm on New Year’s Eve and then 10am to 5pm on the first day of 2019.

Check the opening times of your local Asda store online.

Sainsbury’s opening hours

Sainsbury’s opening times will vary depending on the size of the store, but most will have different hours from December 24 onwards.

On Christmas Eve big shops will be open from 6am to 11pm and will be closed on Christmas Day.

There will be reduced hours on Boxing Day, usually from 9am to 6pm, and then normal opening times will resume until December 31.

Most shops will operate 7am to 8pm on New Year’s Eve and 9am to 7pm on New Year’s Day.

Use the Sainsbury’s store locator to find opening times for your local branch.

Morrisons opening hours

Most Morrisons stores will open from 6am to 6pm on Christmas Eve. Cafes will close at 5pm and petrol stations can be used between 5.30am and 6.30pm.

All stores are closed on Christmas Day, with most bigger stores – including the two shops in Portsmouth – open 9am to 6pm on Boxing Day.

Normal opening hours will then resume on December 27. On New Year’s Eve superstores will open 7am to 6pm, and then will open at 9am on the first day of 2020.

Use the Morrisons store locator to find the exact times for your local branch.

Lidl opening hours

There are four Lidl stores in Portsmouth- Ocean Retail Park, Norway Road, Goldsmith Avenue and London Road.

Lidl has announced its Christmas opening hours but these vary between stores so do check the times for your local branch on the company’s online store locator.

- Most Lidl stores will be open from 8am to 6pm on Christmas Eve, and will shut on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

- Normal hours will be in operation from December 27 until New Year’s Eve.

- Stores outside London will be open 8am to 8pm on New Year’s Eve, before being shut on New Year’s Day.

Waitrose opening hours

The majority of Waitrose stores will open from 7am to 6pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, although some will be open until 10pm.

Most will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, apart from branches at some Welcome Break motorway service stations and Shell forecourts.

Typical opening hours on New Year’s Day will be either 7am to 10pm or 11am to 7pm.

For exact opening times for your local Waitrose check the website.