Why Costco Petrol Opens at 6am When the Warehouse Doesn't: Opening Times and Sunday Trading

Costco's UK petrol stations open at 06:00 on weekdays, five hours before the warehouse lets most members in. On Sundays the gap is even odder: the pumps run from 07:00 to 18:00, but in England the warehouse only opens from 11:00 to 17:00. This post explains why the two keep different hours, what Sunday trading law has to do with it, and what happens on bank holidays, Easter Sunday and Christmas.

Short answer: All 22 UK Costco petrol stations open at 06:00 and close at 21:30 Monday to Friday, and most open 06:00–20:00 on Saturday and 07:00–18:00 on Sunday. None is open 24 hours. The warehouse keeps shorter Sunday hours because English and Welsh law limits large shops to six hours on a Sunday, and petrol filling stations are exempt from that limit.

What time does the Costco petrol station open and close?

There are 29 Costco warehouses in the UK, and 22 of them have a petrol station. We read every station's hours from Costco's own store records on 15 October 2026. Weekdays are the same everywhere. Weekends vary a little.

So the answer to "what time does the Costco petrol station open" is 06:00 on any weekday, and 07:00 on a Sunday at all but two sites. The answer to "what time does it close" is 21:30 on weekdays and 18:00 on Sundays everywhere.

For every station's times in one table, with a live open-now marker, see Costco petrol station opening times. This post explains the pattern behind that table rather than repeating it.

Is Costco petrol open 24 hours?

No. No UK Costco petrol station is open 24 hours or 24/7. Every one of the 22 has a closing time, and the latest any of them closes is 21:30 on a weekday. If a map app shows a Costco forecourt as open around the clock, it is wrong. Check the station page on our site or the warehouse page on costco.co.uk.

Once the posted closing time passes, you can't buy fuel there until the next morning. Costco doesn't publish a policy on whether a fill-up that's already running at closing time is allowed to finish, so arrive with a few minutes to spare.

Why does the petrol station open before the warehouse?

The two are run as separate operations with separate hours. Here is how they line up at most sites:

A few warehouses differ slightly. Hayes, Watford and Wembley close at 21:00 on weekdays, and Watford lets Business members in from 09:30. Saturday closing ranges from 18:00 to 19:00.

On a weekday that gives you five hours at the pumps before Gold Star members can shop, and an hour after the warehouse shuts. Costco hasn't said publicly why it sets the forecourt hours this way. The obvious reading is that fuel is a commute-time purchase and the warehouse is not. The forecourt runs on its own schedule and doesn't need the shop floor to be open. You still need a Costco membership to buy fuel at any of these times (who can fill up), and the early pumps work exactly as they do later in the day (see how to use a Costco petrol pump).

Why does the warehouse only open 11:00 to 17:00 on Sunday?

Because of the Sunday Trading Act 1994. It applies in England and Wales. Under Schedule 1, a "large shop" is one with a relevant floor area over 280 square metres (about 3,000 sq ft). A large shop may open on a Sunday only for six continuous hours, starting no earlier than 10:00 and ending no later than 18:00. The GOV.UK guide to trading hours for retailers puts it the same way: "6 consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm".

A Costco warehouse is many times bigger than 280 square metres, so it's caught by the rule. Every warehouse in England uses the same 11:00–17:00 window, which is exactly six hours. Costco could legally pick any six-hour slot between 10:00 and 18:00. It hasn't said why it chose 11:00 to 17:00.

Why isn't the petrol station limited to six hours?

Schedule 1, paragraph 3(1) of the same Act lists shops that the Sunday restriction doesn't apply to. One item on that list is "any petrol filling station". Others include shops at motorway service areas, shops selling mainly motor or cycle supplies, registered pharmacies, and shops at railway stations and airports (Sunday Trading Act 1994, Schedule 1). GOV.UK summarises these as exempt outlets, including "service station outlets" and outlets "wholly or mainly selling motor or bicycle supplies and accessories".

So the Costco forecourt, as a petrol filling station, can open whenever Costco chooses on a Sunday. That's why it runs 07:00–18:00, eleven hours, while the warehouse next to it is held to six.

Why do Scottish Costcos open at 10:00 on Sunday?

Because the Sunday Trading Act doesn't extend to Scotland. GOV.UK states plainly: "There are no trading hours restrictions in Scotland." The three Scottish warehouses use that freedom:

An English warehouse couldn't legally open for seven or eight hours on a Sunday. The petrol hours, though, are the same as in England. The forecourts were never restricted, so Scotland's different law makes no difference to when you can fill up.

What about Wales and Cardiff?

The Sunday Trading Act covers England and Wales together, and GOV.UK groups the two throughout. The Cardiff warehouse follows the English pattern: 11:00–17:00 on Sunday.

Cardiff has no petrol station, though. Costco's store record for Cardiff lists no forecourt, and our data agrees. If you're in South Wales, the nearest Costco petrol is Bristol, across the Severn. Use Costco petrol near me to find the closest station from wherever you are.

The other warehouses without petrol are Chingford, Croydon, Farnborough, Hayes, Milton Keynes and Wembley. The full list of sites that do sell fuel is on the UK Costco petrol stations page.

Is Costco petrol open on Sunday?

Yes, at all 22 stations. Most run 07:00–18:00. Sunbury opens an hour earlier, at 06:00, and Southampton opens later, at 09:00. Both close at 18:00.

For the search "what time does Costco gas close on Sunday", the UK answer is 18:00 at every site. That's earlier than the 21:30 weekday close, so don't leave a Sunday evening fill-up too late.

Is Costco petrol open on bank holidays?

Yes, but on shorter hours. Each station's page on costco.co.uk lists separate "Bank Holiday Fuel Opening Hours". As of 15 October 2026 they break down like this:

On a bank holiday the warehouses open 10:00–18:00. That's legal in England because bank holidays are always weekdays (a weekend Christmas or Boxing Day moves to a substitute day), and the six-hour rule only applies on Sundays.

Is Costco petrol open on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Easter Sunday?

No. Every UK Costco petrol station's listing on costco.co.uk says it is closed on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve the pumps close early, at 17:00. The warehouses close on the same four days and run 10:00–17:00 on the two Eves (Costco Reading store page, for example).

The law treats the warehouse and the forecourt differently on these days. Costco's choices go further than the law requires for the forecourt:

• Easter Sunday: in England and Wales, the six-hour Sunday allowance doesn't apply when the Sunday is Easter Day, so large shops must stay closed. Petrol filling stations are outside that rule altogether. The forecourt closure on Easter Sunday is Costco's own choice.
• Christmas Day: the Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004 bars large shops in England and Wales from opening on 25 December. Section 1(2) exempts the same list of shops as the Sunday Trading Act, so again petrol filling stations aren't covered. In Scotland, the Christmas Day and New Year's Day Trading (Scotland) Act 2007 bans large shops over 280 square metres from opening on Christmas Day. We didn't confirm whether that Act exempts petrol stations, but Costco closes its Scottish forecourts on Christmas Day anyway.
• Boxing Day and New Year's Day: no law forces large shops to close in England or Wales on either day. Costco closes both the warehouse and the pumps by choice. The Scottish Act gives ministers a power to extend the Christmas Day ban to New Year's Day; we couldn't confirm whether it has ever been used.

The dates still to come:

Two details to check nearer the time. Boxing Day 2026 falls on a Saturday, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December (GOV.UK bank holidays). Costco's listings say "Boxing Day" without saying how they treat the substitute day. And the Scottish warehouse pages add "2nd of Jan" to their closures. That line is on the warehouse's hours, not the petrol station's, so we can't say for sure whether Scottish forecourts close that day too.

Do the pumps work when the warehouse is closed?

Yes, within the petrol station's own hours. On a normal weekday you can fill up from 06:00 to 11:00 while the doors are shut to Gold Star members, and from 20:30 to 21:30 after the warehouse closes. On a Sunday in England, the pumps are open for four hours before the warehouse and one hour after it.

What you can't do is pump when the forecourt itself is closed. The warehouse being open doesn't matter either way. On Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Easter Sunday, both are shut.

When is the quietest time to fill up?

Costco doesn't publish queue data, and we don't track forecourt traffic, so this is general guidance rather than a measured fact.

• Likely quieter: weekday mornings before the warehouse opens, especially after the 07:00–09:00 commute. Weekday evenings after the warehouse closes at 20:30 also tend to be calmer, because the shoppers have gone.
• Likely busier: Saturday late morning to mid-afternoon. Also Sunday around 11:00 in England, when the warehouse opens and shoppers fill up on the way in. Then 17:00–18:00 on Sundays, when warehouse shoppers leave and the forecourt has only an hour left.
• Before closures: expect queues on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and the Saturday before Easter, when the pumps close early or stay shut the next day.

If you're choosing where to go rather than when, today's prices at every site are on the UK Costco hub, and diesel has its own Costco diesel price page. Our is Costco fuel cheaper post compares those prices with the supermarkets.

How to check today's opening times

1. On our site: each station page, such as Birmingham, Manchester or Thurrock (Lakeside), shows the forecourt's hours next to today's prices. The opening times page lists all 22 and shows which are open right now.
2. On costco.co.uk: each warehouse page has a petrol station section with the regular hours, bank holiday hours and the closure days.
3. For "Costco petrol open today?": if today is an ordinary weekday, the answer is 06:00–21:30 everywhere. Check before you travel on a Sunday, a bank holiday or any day between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.