Anyone planning a trip to Europe this year should be aware of new passport rules which have so far ruined countless holidays.
Since the UK left the EU everyone who holds a British passport must follow the Schengen area requirements for trips to any EU country except Ireland.
Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City are also covered by the regulations.
While travel is still free - until bloc wide visa arrangements come in later this year - there is now more potential for snags.
While most people know their passports should be valid for at least three months after the day they plan to leave, there are extra requirements in place since Brexit.
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Have you been caught out by the rules? Email webtravel@reachplc.com
Holiday hotspots including Lanzarote are covered by the rules (Getty Images)Now, your passport must also have been issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country.
Many travellers have been caught out because they think their passports are valid because they are not due to expire for some time.
If you turn up at an airport with an invalid passport you may be denied entry to EU countries.
You can check your issue date in your passport, which will be written under the 'date of issue' headline.
If your passport was issued before October 1, 2018, extra months may have been added to its expiry date, but these months will not be valid for people entering the EU.
It's also worth checking on the Foreign Office's website to making sure you meet the entry requirements of the destination country before booking your trip.
The rule change may be small, but it is enough to completely scupper a trip if not followed properly.
Ana Tiganescu had to leave her son at the check-in gate at Leeds Bradford Airport (Ana Tiganescu)Last year the Mirror spoke to Ana Tiganescu, who had been looking forward to jetting off on her first holiday in more than three years with a trip to Faro, Portugal, where she would have been surrounded by family members.
The University of Leeds scientist was therefore taken aback and gutted when a member of Ryanair staff at Leeds Bradford Airport told her she couldn't travel.
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Despite having six months left before her UK passport expires, Dr Tiganescu was barred from the flight and could not head off on the week-long trip because her passport was issued more than 10 years ago.
"This was a huge shock and very distressing for us all – especially my son, who didn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to go with them," Dr Tiganescu told the Mirror of the moment she learned she couldn't fly.
"I was left very upset, in shock, and humiliated, waiting for an unspecified amount of time, almost 2 hours, for a Ryanair steward to escort me back through security.
"This situation was deeply distressing. When I finally made it back out of the airport, I was in such a state that I couldn’t remember my postcode for a taxi home."
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