Whilst much of the country will be enjoying a summer break this January, the good news is we won’t have to wait long for Home and Away to return to our screens.

The beloved Aussie soap is well and truly airing in the new year, and judging by the explosive trailer there are some big things coming up.

When does Home and Away return in 2026?

Fans won’t need to wait too long as Home and Away will be back on Seven and 7plus at 7pm on Monday 19th January 2026.

The 2025 triple episode season finale wrapped up on 19th November 2025 so after almost two months of waiting, we will finally see what happened after that shock train crash.

Watch the trailer below:

What happened at the end of last season?

In case you need a refresher, last season ended when a ‘party train’ bound for the Off the Rails music festival in Broken Hill derailed in a tunnel.

Among the Summer Bay residents on board were Justin (James Stewart), Mackenzie (Emily Weir), Remi (Adam Rowland), Abigail (Hailey Pinto), Dana (Ally Harris), Sonny (Ryan Bown), Lacey (Sophea Pennington), Jo (Maddison Brown), and Eddie (Stephen Madsen) but in classic Home and Away cliffhanger style, the last few seconds of the episode saw Remi and Mackenzie left unconscious on the ground.

Just before the crash, however, fans were surprised to see Eddie propose to girlfriend Jo. Whilst Jo didn’t give a definitive answer (much to the delight of those who are Team Tane), any romance in the air instantly vanished following the train accident.

 

The Group Chat by Who

 

What’s going to happen on Home and Away in 2026?

There’s never a dull moment in Summer Bay and if the trailer is anything to go by, we will be kicking off 2026 with a bang.

In the clip, Levi Fowler and Tane Parata are determined to go in and help the casualties. Levi clashes with Constable Cash Newman demanding, “I need to get in there,” but Tane defies police orders and heads into the tunnel.

Other moments in the trailer include Sergeant David Langham looking on sternly and what appears to be a body under a white sheet being put in an ambulance, however there are no more hints regarding who will come out of the wreckage alive.

Which characters will be back in 2026?

Perhaps the best news to come out of the trailer is the return of beloved characters Brax and Ricky played by Stephen Peacocke and Bonnie Sveen, who left the show in 2016.

River Boy Brax who was introduced along with his brothers Heath (Dan Ewing) and Casey (Lincoln Younes) back in 2011 became a fan favourite especially when romance bloomed with Ricky who came to the bay in 2013.

Many of their scenes will be filmed in Western Australia but Ray Meagher who plays Alf Stewart admitted that  it was “fantastic” to act with Stephen again.

“They were just really good scenes about life and what Brax wants to do and all of that,” he told TV WEEK.

Alf isn’t the only old favourite who will be there in 2026 as the trailer showed Roo (Georgie Parker), Leah (Ada Nicodemou), Marilyn (Emily Symons) and John Palmer (Shane Withington)

In fact, Ray dropped a dramatic hint at what’s to come for his character in the new year.

“All I can say is that, at Alf’s age, driving can become an issue.”