Ten-year passport rule explained after warning issued to anyone who owns a red one

Owners of red passports who are hoping to squeeze one last sun-soaked vacation in this year are once again being issued a vital travel warning.

Before booking time off work, checking yourself into the airport lounge or reserving any accommodation, you might want to pay attention.

That's because failure to comply with a dreaded passport restriction that was implemented earlier this week may result in you having to cancel your future trip overseas, and could therefore cost you thousands of pounds.

Red passport holders are at risk (Simon Marcus Taplin/Getty)

Don't worry though, we wouldn't frighten you with a cancellation warning without telling you exactly how you can avoid such drastic measures.

What's the change?

First things first, if you're reading this as BLUE passport owner - i.e. you received your current passport after the UK (disastrously) decided to leave the European Union - feel free to keep scrolling, this doesn't apply to you.

If you haven't yet needed to renew or replace your travel document in the years since, however, and therefore still have a red passport, you mightn't have noticed that they could be nearing their expiry date.

The HM Passport Office stopped issuing these red British passports before 31 December, 2020.

So, to avoid chaos at the airport when you'd rather be popping some Prosecco, be sure to check the date of issue on your passport to see if it has been issued within 10 years of the day you land abroad.

Then, add another three months onto the date that you're planning to leave the country and double-check to see if your passport expires after that.

Blue passport holders are safe (Images By Tang Ming Tung/Getty)

What happens if I don't?

Some countries actually require passports to be valid for six months. These countries include China, Thailand, Egypt and Turkey.

An estimated 200 Brits every day are being turned away at check-in, or even the departure gates, for not having sufficient time left on their passports.

How can I sort it?

If you find that your passport isn't valid - you've got two options moving forward.

You can either apply for a passport renewal which can take up to three weeks - or longer during busy periods - or, if you're departure is sooner rather than later, get an emergency travel document.

An emergency travel document is typically ready for collection two working days after an application is paid and received in the UK, so bear this in mind ahead of time.

A passport renewal will set you back £88.50 if you apply online or a slightly more expensive £100 if you fill in a paper form, while an emergency passport comes attached with £100 non-refundable fee if you apply online.