A father of three says he was forced to pay £3,000 and drive more than 1,100 miles across six countries in order to join his family holiday after falling victim to a little-known passport rule. 

Peter Holt, 50, says he was one of three people turned away at the boarding gate for a flight to Croatia from the UK because his passport was out of date, despite it not expiring until next year. 

Before the UK left the EU, valid British passport holders could freely travel across the EU even if their passport expired the day after their return. 

But since 2021, UK passport holders travelling to any EU country will be denied entry if their passport was issued ten years previously, even if it still has extra months left.

Peter got his passport in July 2013 and was able to carry over unexpired months, giving the expiry of March 2024.

But post-Brexit rules, which he had no idea about, brought this forward to July 2023.

The financial planning consultant watched on in dismay as his wife Claire, 46, took their two sons Rocky, eight, and Axel and Hunter, both six, and flew to Croatia on an easyJet flight.

He says that no one had flagged his passport issue until he was at the airport.  

‘We had booked the holiday in February, and it said nothing about an issue with the passport then.

‘I had my boarding pass, been through bag check, passport control, yet now at the final stage I was turned away,

‘It just didn’t – and still doesn’t – make sense.’

The determined dad, from Surrey, was forced to drive his Mini Cooper 1,102 miles to Croatia, cutting through France, Germany, Austria and Slovenia before finally joining his family two days later in Croatia. 

‘I bought my ticket to pass through the Channel Tunnel and set off on my journey,

‘The crazy thing is both the English and French border control teams at the crossing accepted my passport adding further mystery to the tale.’

Peter drove around 500 miles on the first day of his journey stopping in Strasbourg, France at 10pm at a Hilton hotel.

He turned on Find My iPhone tracking services so his family could follow him on his continental journey.

He then drove the remaining 608 miles through Germany, Austria, and Slovenia in 12 hours to meet his family at their hotel in Pula at 8pm.

‘My kids, wife, and I were just elated that I had made it there in such a short period, of time’ he said.

‘And to only miss two days of our two-week holiday was just brilliant.’

While he missed out on some of his holiday, he managed to get a spot of sightseeing in. 

He said: ‘As sad as the situation was, the trip was fantastic, the roads were smooth, the scenery was fantastic, and driving through mainland Europe was just beautiful.

‘I saw signs for places I had seen on the TV like France’s Champagne regions and the Allianz Arena in Munich, I just wish I could have stopped off.’

He is now warning other holidaymakers to check the expiry dates on their passports, as his pan-continential journey cost him an additional £3,000 in crossing fees, food and hotels. 

‘I am glad to have made it, but the situation was just so unnecessary,’ he said.

‘I just wish someone, be it easyJet or the UK Passport Office, would have let me know.’

An easyJet spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Unfortunately Mr Holt was unable to fly to Pula due to their passport not meeting current validity rules. easyJet follows the rules on passport validity as set out by the authorities where we operate. 

‘We remind customers during booking and before they travel to ensure they are aware of the requirements for the destination they are flying to and it is customers’ responsibility to ensure they have valid documentation for travel.’

Ferocious storms have hammered Europe in recent days with Italy being hit by an ‘apocalyptic’ supercell and a deadly 135mph tornado tearing through Switzerland – while wildfires continue to rage in southern holiday hotspots.

The tornado struck the Swiss city of La Chaux-de-Fonds on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring 15 others. 

Footage emerged today showing relative calm before a ferocious squall barrelled through, tearing up trees and sending debris flying.

Similar vicious winds have damaged cities from Berlin to Milan and across to Romania’s Oradea, killing several people and leaving a trail of destruction.

Italy’s Udine region, 60 miles to the north-east of Venice, experienced the rare supercell phenomenon on Tuesday, with a cyclone hundreds of feet wide looming over the town of Codroipo and with flashes of lightning emanating from inside.

Further south on Italy’s Almalfi coast, unusually powerful waves crashed up against a beach, sending people running from the shore and rocking yachts on the water.

As powerful wind and huge hail battered swathes of the continent’s northern regions, wildfires were burning in at least nine countries as millions living in southern Europe continued to experience extreme heat.

In Portugal, locals and firefighters scrambled to put out a fire at a natural park near a beach resort, while in Croatia fires set off old landmines near the historic city of Dubrovnik.

Italy‘s southern island of Sicily has also been devastated by wildfires that have killed three elderly people, its regional president said today, with footage from the country’s roads showing scenes of people driving to safety down fire-flanked roads.

Meanwhile, blazes continue to wreak havoc in Greece with efforts to contain them yesterday resulting in the deaths of two pilots.

SWITZERLAND 

Monday’s tornado ‘unfortunately caused the death of one person in their 50s following the toppling of a construction crane’, Neuchatel police said. 

The storm passed through quickly but the strong winds caused significant damage.

Vehicles were damaged or destroyed, roofs were torn off, street furniture was blown away and trees were uprooted.

Footage showed a cloud rolling in over the lush, green Swiss countryside. As the fog enveloped the settlement, the winds suddenly picked up, causing trees to almost topple over and hail to fall.

Officials said a wind speed of 135 miles per hour was recorded on Monday ‘under a storm cell which suddenly strengthened when arriving in the region’.

Neuchatel police urged people not to expose themselves to risks such as falling tiles or trees, and warned further storms were likely.

ITALY

Meanwhile in Sicily, the charred bodies of a couple in their 70s were found in their burnt-out home on the outskirts of Palermo, the regional capital.

Another woman in her late 80s died in the Palermo province after an ambulance was unable to reach her home due to fires.

In a message on Facebook, Sicilian President Renato Schifani said ‘scorching heat and unprecedented devastating fires’ had turned Tuesday into ‘one of the most difficult days in decades’.

Italian firefighters said they battled nearly 1,400 fires between Sunday and Tuesday, including 650 in Sicily and 390 in Calabria, the southern mainland region where a bedridden 98-year-old man was killed as fire consumed his home.

Fires were still burning on the hills around Palermo on Wednesday, with Canadair planes back in operation to try to douse the flames.

Large areas of the Mediterranean have been sweltering under an intense summer heatwave on Tuesday, causing deadly blazes across the region.

Sicily is a major tourist destination but a fire inside a terminal building last week caused the near-total closure of its biggest airport in Catania on the east of the island. Palermo airport was also closed for a few hours on Tuesday because of a wildfire nearby.

‘I hope that tourist flows in the areas affected by the fires will not suffer losses,’ Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci, a Sicilian, told the La Stampa newspaper.

‘The risk … is there and it is understandable’.

The government was set to meet in Rome later Wednesday to declare a state of emergency in regions affected by natural disasters and introduce a special furlough scheme for workers most exposed to the heatwave.

While Italy’s south is battling with wildfires, the country’s northern Lombardy region saw a powerful storm accompanied by heavy hail.

This caused flooding and power outages and was blamed for the deaths of two people, including that of a 16-year-old girl at a scouts’ camp crushed by a falling tree.

Officials have reported tornadoes, while a rare supercell opened in the skies above the town of Codroipo, in the Italian province of Udine.

Pictures of the phenomenon showed what looks like a fissure in the sky underneath black clouds. Meteorologists say supercells form when hot air meets cold air, and release large amounts of energy in a short time.

Meanwhile, residents of Milan were surveying the mess after the dramatic overnight storm and winds of over 100 kilometres per hour.

‘It all happened around 4 or 5 AM (0200-0300 GMT) this morning, it was very short but very intense, it knocked down several trees … with the wind gusts they took off and broke up,’ witness Roberto Solfrizzo, 66, told Reuters.

In a sign that temperatures were finally easing, only two cities – Catania in Sicily and Bari in southern Puglia – were on a government heatwave ‘red alert’ list for Wednesday, down from 17 the previous day.

CROATIA

Across the Adriatic in Croatia, dozens of firefighters battled a wildfire near the country’s picturesque southern city of Dubrovnik, authorities said on Wednesday, with water-bombing planes dispatched to help contain the blaze.

The fire near Dubrovnik was reportedly some 7.5 miles from the famed medieval city in the Zupa Dubrovacka municipality.

The blaze broke out late Monday but had not triggered any evacuations of the nearby population, according to the firefighters association.

Around 130 firefighters were working to contain the flames that had been spread by strong winds on Tuesday.

Local media reported the fire also triggered landmines to explode in the area.

During the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Dubrovnik was besieged and shelled by Serb forces, leading several areas in the city to be damaged while swathes of its outskirts are still contaminated by landmines.

The UNESCO-protected city dates back to the 7th century and features a maze of churches, palaces and fountains perched above the shimmering Adriatic.

Dubrovnik has long been a hub for tourism and a cruise ship magnet but also gained notoriety in recent years after portions of the hit HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’ was filmed in the medieval walled city.

Known as the Pearl of Adriatic, the city attracts more than a million tourists annually.

Last week, at least five people were killed after violent thunderstorms swept across Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia following days of scorching temperatures in the Balkans.

Fires also swept across Portugal and Spain’s Gran Canaria, and several dozen firefighters were using aircraft to battle a wildfire that had broken out close to Nice international airport in southern France.

GREECE 

In Greece, officials are expecting scorching heat on Wednesday as crews continue their work to douse deadly wildfires.

Thousands of people have evacuated as Greek authorities struggle against flames on three major fronts, including the tourist islands of Rhodes and Corfu. 

Greece is used to summer heatwaves, but is experiencing one of the longest ones in recent years, according to experts. 

The civil protection ministry has warned of an extreme danger of fire in six of the country’s 13 regions on Wednesday.

Wildfires, which have been burning in several parts of the country for more than 10 days, were ravaging the tourist islands of Rhodes, Corfu and Evia.

At least 100 firefighters were working to contain the flames on Evia, where on Tuesday two pilots were killed when their water bomber aircraft crashed.

The body of a third victim was also found on Evia. Authorities have evacuated tens of thousands of people from fire areas in Greece, including many tourists. 

PORTUGAL 

Aided by local residents, hundreds of Portuguese firefighters scrambled on Tuesday to put out flames sweeping across a natural park near the popular holiday destination of Cascais, with strong winds complicating efforts to tackle the blaze.

The wildfire started at 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) in a mountainous area that is part of the Sintra-Cascais natural park, which covers around 56 square miles of land and is located west of the capital Lisbon.

Backed by 189 vehicles, more than 600 firefighters were brought in after the fire erupted. Water-bombing planes also battled the blaze but had to stop operating as the night set in.

At one of the villages affected by the fire, desperate local residents took matters into their own hands as they tried to protect their homes with buckets of water and hosepipes, as strong winds fanned the flames.

‘The fear now is that it will get to the houses,’ said 34-year-old Ines Figueiredo as smoke filled the air. ‘We try to help as much as we can with buckets (of water)… but it’s not worth much.’

Mayor of Cascais Carlos Carreiras said gusts of up to 60 kph were the biggest challenge ahead, and that a number of people had been evacuated as a precaution.

Residents used wheelchairs to help evacuate those with mobility problems.

‘They (firefighters) do what they can,’ said Miguel Medeiros, a local resident who has helped fight the flames. ‘It’s difficult for everyone.’

No houses have been damaged and no major injuries have been reported, according to authorities.

EU data shows Portugal, which has so far escaped the recent heatwave causing deaths and destruction across southern Europe, is usually one of the bloc’s worst-hit countries by wildfires.

Elsewhere in Turkey, authorities evacuated a dozen homes and a hospital as a precaution on Tuesday after a wildfire raged through a rugged forest area near the Mediterranean resort of Kemer, in Antalya province.

A hospital and a dozen homes were evacuated as a precaution in the coastal town. 

At least 10 planes, 22 helicopters and hundreds of firefighters were deployed to extinguish the fire as meteorologists warned temperatures could rise several degrees above seasonal averages. 

Five helicopters with night-vision capabilities worked through the night, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Authorities said residential areas were not under threat in the Kemer in the Mediterranean coastal province of Antalya. 

Another wildfire in the western province of Manisa, was brought under control a day after it burnt at least 14 homes.

Wildfires also broke out in the countryside around Syria’s Mediterranean port city, Latakia, with the authorities using army helicopters to try to put them out.

Extreme weather throughout July has caused havoc across the planet, with record temperatures in China, the U.S. and southern Europe sparking forest fires, water shortages and a rise in heat-related hospital admissions.

Without human-induced climate change, the events this month would have been ‘extremely rare’, according to a study by World Weather Attribution, a global team of scientists that examines the role played by climate change in extreme weather.

The heat, with temperatures topping 40 C (104 F), is well in excess of what usually attracts tourists who flock to southern European beaches.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his country was one of those on the front line against climate change, with no easy solution.

‘I will state the obvious: in the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate change hot-spot, there is no magical defence mechanism, if there was we would have implemented it,’ Mitsotakis said.

By Nick Emms For Mailonline

Published: 13:45 EDT, 18 June 2023 | Updated: 15:18 EDT, 18 June 2023

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At least five people have died and thousands have been evacuated from popular holiday regions across northern Italy and Croatia today as ‘apocalyptic’ floods triggered by torrential rain tore through dozens of towns.

Desperate families – including young children and the elderly – were forced to climb on to their roofs in the hardest-hit Italian region of Emilia-Romagna as they waited anxiously for rescuers to reach them on helicopters.

The deadly floods in the popular tourist hotspot has meant this weekend’s Italian Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola has been cancelled. F1 chiefs said that because of the sheer scale of the flooding across the regions, they could not guarantee the safety of their fans, teams and staff, while adding it would ‘not be fair to put further pressure’ on local authorities. 

In the city of Cesena, in the Emilia-Romagna region, locals were forced to swim through the submerged streets, past sunken cars and floating furniture, to reach higher ground, as the mayor said the situation there is ‘critical’. 

A video shows one desperate mother clinging to her young daughter while frantically waving for help as the water rose up to her chest outside her home. Two men were seen racing to swim to reach the pair, with one placing the young girl above his head to stop her getting swept away in the fast-moving waters.

The girl was passed into the arms of other rescuers standing on a bank, while other neighbours helped her mother to safety after the Savio river burst its banks. 

In Bosnia and Croatia, residents have watched in horror as their homes were quickly submerged by the floods. ‘We have an apocalypse,’ Amin Halitovic, the mayor of the Bosnian town of Bosanska Krupa said. ‘We can no longer count the flooded buildings. It’s never been like this.’

The devastating floods have seen four people killed so far and 5,000 evacuated from 24 towns across the Emilia-Romagna region as the water ripped through their homes and turned streets into rivers. 

A 70-year-old man died in his flooded home in the countryside outside Cesena. His wife was rescued.

Another man was found dead in his home in Forli after the Montone river burst its banks. The town’s mayor said the floods are the ‘worst situation’ the town has ever experienced.

Four people are missing from the region as rescuers search for those trapped in their homes after rivers swollen by days of downpours wreaked havoc across the north.

The mayor of Cesana today warned continued downpours in the Emilia-Romagna region could flood the Savio river and smaller tributaries for a second day as he urged residents to move to upper floors of their homes. 

‘The situation could again become critical,’ Enzo Lattuca said. ‘We cannot in any way lower our guard.’ 

Italian Civil Protection Minister Nello Museumeci said some 5,000 people had been evacuated, 50,000 were without electricity, and more than 100,000 without cell phone or landline use. 

But the deputy chief of the Civil Protection agency, Titti Postiglione, said rescue operations for those needing emergency evacuations were particularly difficult given so many roads and routes were flooded and phone service interrupted. 

Speaking on Sky TG24, she noted that the affected flood zone covered a broad swath of four provinces which, until the heavy rains, had been parched by a prolonged drought. 

Elsewhere in Italy, firefighters rescued a family with a four-month-old baby and a disabled man in the northern province of Pesaro and Urbino. 

Some families were rescued from their rooftops and taken to safety, including a couple and their two young daughters.

The nearly 100,000 residents of Cesena were told to stay away from the raging waters and avoid ground floors if they live near the river. 

‘Use prudence, don’t be curious, so disaster doesn’t turn into tragedy,’ Cesena mayor Enzo Lattuca said on television. 

Some 900 people in flooded areas of northern Italy were evacuated by late last night, with some taking shelter in gyms or schools. 

In the tourist town of Ravenna in north-east Italy, authorities urged residents to move to upper storeys of buildings to ride out the storm. One person died there after their car became submerged in the water. 

In Riccione, a beach town on the Adriatic Sea, the mayor warned people to stay home as some took to rubber dinghies to navigate submerged streets.

In the area between Ancona, a major Adriatic port, and Pesaro and Urbino, two towns popular with tourists, firefighters attended to 80 incidents related to the flooding including fallen trees, mudslides and trapped motorists.

Meteorologists have said Italy can expect several more days of heavy rain, pummelling the north which had for weeks been suffering a shortfall of rain.

Train travel was halted on the Bologna-Ancona and the Ravenna-Faenza routes, Italian media reported.

In the Balkans, the Una river burst its banks and submerged parts of northern Croatia and northwestern Bosia, where authorities announced a state of emergency. 

The mayor of the town of Bosanska Krupa in Bosnia said hundreds of homes had been flooded.

‘We have an apocalypse,’ Amin Halitovic told regional N1 network. ‘We can no longer count the flooded buildings. It’s never been like this.’

In Croatia, hundreds of soldiers and rescue teams continued bringing food and other necessities to people in flood-hit areas who have been isolated in their homes. No casualties have been reported so far. 

Elsewhere in the north of Italy, authorities in Venice are preparing to activate a mobile barrier in the lagoon the hopes of sparing the city from the rare May high-tide flooding. 

The barrier system, known by its acronym Moses, and recalling the Biblical account of the Red Sea parting, will be lifted tonight for the first time in May. 

It is nearly 20 years since construction began on the project, which is still not completed.

This month, a day and a half of non-stop rain caused flooding in the Emilia-Romagna region, leaving at least two people dead as riverbeds left dry by drought overflowed.

The rainfall came as Italy had been bracing for a second year of drought, which has depleted its largest river, the Po. The river supports agriculture in the vast Po River Valley before emptying into the Adriatic Sea east of Bologna.

While north-east Italy was hardest hit by the downpours, flooding also caused damage in the south.

On the island of Sicily, rescuers responded to flooding, fallen trees and other problems in the countryside between Palermo and Trapani. By yesterday morning, the weather there was improving, firefighters said.