The vast majority of McDonald's restaurants across the UK will remain open over the Easter weekend, according to checks carried out on Friday. Good Friday falls on April 3, Easter Sunday on April 5 and Easter Monday on April 6.
While most branches are expected to operate as normal, some may close or reduce their hours. McDonald's advises customers to use its restaurant locator tool to check local opening times before visiting.
McDonald's has more than 1,400 branches in the UK and Ireland, with around 80% franchised, meaning hours can vary. For example, the Leicester Square branch in London is open from 5am to 2.45am daily, including bank holiday Monday. The Burgess Hill branch in West Sussex is open 7am to 11pm every day, while branches in Liverpool Lord Street and Cardiff Newport Road are open 24 hours, including bank holidays.
The news comes as McDonald's launches its Cards Meal promotion, featuring 24 collectible cards split into four categories: Character, Fan, Retro, and Legendary Cards (holographic). Each pack guarantees one Character Card that unlocks a free food item. Six Character Cards are available, each linked to a menu favourite: Fry Girl (free Fries), Hamburglar (free Hamburger, Cheeseburger or Mayo Chicken), McNugget Buddies (free six Chicken McNuggets), Phil A. O’Fish (free Filet-O-Fish or four Chicken McNuggets), Grimace (free Medium Soft Drink or Medium Milkshake), and Birdie (free McMuffin).
There are also six collect-to-win prize categories. Customers enter codes from the back of each card into the McDonald's app. Character Cards have a second code for redeeming the free food item in-restaurant, drive-thru, or via the app. The rarest card is the gold Ronald Card, with only 10 in existence, each winning the holder £10,000.
