Half term falls in the second half of October in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually the week containing the clock change, while Scotland takes its October break a week or two earlier. It is the first holiday of the school year and the last before Christmas.
Leave in October 2029 clusters around half term for families and around the clock change for everyone else, since the darker evenings make a week off feel materially different from one taken in September. There is no public holiday anywhere to bridge into, so it is annual leave taken in full.
October 2029 closes on Halloween with the clocks already back and the evenings collapsing inwards. November follows with Bonfire Night five days later, Remembrance on the 11th and the Sunday nearest it, and St Andrew's Day at the end for Scotland.