Summer is nearly upon us, with countless Brits eagerly anticipating their holidays. But, before boarding planes, hopping on ferries or catching the Eurostar, it's essential to carry out a passport check.

I recently booked my summer getaway, but discovered my passport needed renewing ahead of the trip. Since Britain departed the European Union, entry requirements for countries throughout Europe have changed. Numerous holidaymakers get caught out by the regulations, and if you're travelling to Europe and Schengen countries, the passport must be issued less than 10 years before your departure date and remain valid for at least three months after your planned return date.

Because of these regulations, my passport was deemed out of date, prompting me to get a new one. In past years, I opted to renew my passport using a paper form at the Post Office.

This time, however, I decided to complete everything online, which proved both cheaper and more straightforward. It currently costs £102 to renew or replace your passport when submitting the forms online.

By contrast, it costs £115.50 if you complete it by paper. Another change that has simplified the process is that passport photo booths now supply digital copies of your photograph alongside a physical printout.

This means you receive a digital code linked to your photograph, allowing you to simply enter it to upload it to the gov.uk website.

Once you have entered your details and uploaded your photograph on the UK Government website, you must return your old passport. Simply post it to the address provided and wait for your new one to arrive.

The Passport Office states that it typically takes three weeks to receive your new passport.

They begin processing your new one as soon as they receive your documents, so it is crucial to send off your old passport as soon as possible.

To my surprise, the new passport arrived in just one week after posting the old one. The whole process was considerably easier and quicker than anticipated.

The Passport Office does sometimes caution that during peak seasons, it could take longer to receive your passport.

It added: "It may take longer than three weeks if we need more information, or we need to interview you. We'll tell you this within 3 weeks."

But, I had no complications throughout the process. I found that renewing a passport online is the best option for those looking to save both time and money in the future.