Britons must give fingerprints while holidaying in Europe: Holidaymakers are threatened with travel chaos next autumn with the introduction of post-Brexit checks and facial scans when entering the EU

Due to new strict border controls after Brexit, visitors to Europe will be faced with long queues at the borders from next autumn.

British and non-EU passport holders will have to undergo fingerprint checks and facial scans as part of the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES).

It will replace the stamping of passports introduced after Brexit, when Britain became a “third country” for the union – meaning it is not a member state and has no right to move freely within the EU.

The system checks the name and biometric data of each passenger when entering an EU country.

The launch was supposed to take place at the beginning of the year, but was postponed several times.

Some countries have expressed concern about the length of time the trial will add to queues at EU borders. The Slovenian government said it would last “up to four times longer”.

Despite concerns, EES will launch on October 6, according to the Independent.

Every time visitors try to enter the mainland, they must show a facial image and leave four fingerprints.

Personal information such as first name, last name, date of birth, nationality, gender, travel document and three-letter country code is required – except for children under 12 years old.

Austria claimed the processing time would “double compared to the current situation”, while Croatia warned that the checks would “definitely take significantly longer”.

French officials will carry out EES border checks at the ports of Dover and Folkestone for the Eurotunnel and at St Pancras International for the Eurostar.

In a report published earlier this year, the French financial regulator Cour des Comptes predicted that queues at the UK-France border would at least double with the introduction of the EEA in 2024.

The Port of Dover, which regularly experiences long delays due to post-Brexit checks, said the new system could extend the duration of car checks from 45 seconds to up to ten minutes.

British travelers queue for hours at passport control at a Spanish airport

Port boss Doug Bannister said: “Even at the current busiest times, with the new post-Brexit rules, passport checks take 45 to 90 seconds per car.”

“If you book in advance, a car with a family of four or five people can take ten minutes.

“The government urgently needs to discuss with its French and EU counterparts how this will work.”

Eurotunnel has warned that it could take up to six minutes longer to process each carriage that boards the train.

The EES covers arrivals in all EU countries except Cyprus and Ireland. It is also adopted by Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

One of the reasons its launch was delayed was next year’s Paris Olympics, with bosses warning it could cause chaos for millions of passengers traveling to France.

About six months after the launch of the EEA, the EU will launch ETIAS – a visa waiver system similar to the US ESTA.

It costs €7 (£6) per person and is required for people entering the Schengen area.

The EU dismissed concerns that the ESS would cause chaos at borders, claiming it would actually save time.

A spokesperson said: “The biggest benefit of the EES is time saving.”

“The EES replaces stamping in passports and automates border control procedures, making travel to European countries that use the EES more efficient for the traveller.”

Holidaymakers are waiting to see if the eruption of a volcano in Iceland will disrupt their flights to the country

Holidaymakers are anxiously waiting to see if the eruption of a volcano in Iceland will disrupt their flights to the country.

The eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, north of the evacuated town of Grindavik, began at around 10.17pm last night after a swarm of earthquakes, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said, citing a series of smaller tremors.

There are fears that the eruption, with 200 cubic meters of lava spewing from the fissures every second, could cause significant damage to air traffic after the 2010 Icelandic eruption grounded thousands of flights in Europe and North America and affected holidaymakers’ beaches.

Flights from Keflavik International Airport in Reykjavik were delayed last night as an EasyJet flight to Manchester was stranded on the tarmac for five hours due to volcanic activity before departing at 1.35am.

Passengers were told by easyJet: “We’re sorry your flight has been delayed.” Because volcanic activity in Keflavik (KEF) leads to restrictions in the areas where planes are allowed to fly.”

British holidaymakers are anxiously waiting to see if their flights will be canceled today – but the Icelandic government and airlines including EasyJet said Iceland’s airports were “not affected” and flights should operate “as planned”.

Hallgrímur Indriðason, a journalist for Icelandic state broadcaster RUV, said there was “no threat to air traffic – at least not for now” as Reykjavik’s Keflavik International Airport remained open today.

Previous eruptions near the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula occurred in 2021, 2022 and earlier this year.

In 2010, the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, a 1,660-meter high, ice-covered volcano, shot enormous amounts of ash into the atmosphere. This massive, explosive eruption was not fatal, but it caused the cancellation of approximately 100,000 flights and stranded more than 10 million travelers.