It's finally June and the summer is here once again, so you might be planning those trips abroad to get out of the British sun and into a more scorching climate.
Among the most popular destinations for British holidaymakers are France, Spain and Greece, but you'd better make sure you know all of the travel rules to avoid being those unlucky people who make it onto the news for not being able to go on holiday.
You'll want to make sure your passport is present and accounted for, otherwise it'll be a week on Blackpool beach for you and your family.
Just remember that if you are going abroad, respect the rules of the country you're visiting, and don't fall foul of a potential pitfall that could affect plenty of UK passports.
Advert
Here's the rub - UK holidaymakers used to be able to carry over up to nine months from an old passport onto a new one.
While your passport is meant to last you 10 years before it's up for renewal, that meant some people had a valid passport that slightly went over the limit and could be valid for a little longer.
However, the UK made the splendid and not at all catastrophically thick decision to leave the EU with something called 'Brexit'... you might have heard of it.
When the UK left the EU, the rules for Brits going abroad changed and most European countries no longer accepted passports which exceeded the 10 year limit.
Good job gang, at least those passports can be blue now.
That's resulted in some people having their holiday plans scuppered, despite holding passports which were technically still valid for travel, just not to the countries they wanted to go to.
That's because the rules for countries like France, Spain and Greece state that your passport has to be 'issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country'.
It doesn't matter if your passport is still valid slightly beyond those 10 years, because those aren't the rules on the other end of your journey, and no amount of shouting at the border control worker is going to change that.
Another thing not to be caught out on is the expiry date, as your passport must also be 'valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave', so don't dilly dally with getting your documentation renewed.
Of this trio of very popular countries to visit this summer, if you're headed for France you might also need to show some proof of where you're planning to stay.
If you're a frequent traveller then you'll also need to keep an eye on how many days you're staying, as if you're headed to a country in the Schengen area you can stay visa-free for up to 90 days in a 180 day period. Otherwise, you'll need to get some more documents.
Joe Harker