By Ade O'Connor
Everywhere British holidaymakers go they will always take the weather with them - providing they do not forget their new UK passport, as essential as travel insurance on foreign trips.
The new UK passport featuring idyllic pictures of rural Britain, along with its typical weather, has been unveiled. Clouds, lightning and a compass accompany narrow boats, sundials and windmills to boost security in the "universally trusted document", the Identity and Passport Service said.
De La Rue will begin producing the new passports in October under a £400 million 10-year deal. Each page in the document shows "typical British weather", although only four of the 28 pages forecast a clear, sunny day.
No examples of urban Britain are contained in the pages of the passport, instead images of the White Cliffs of Dover, the Gower Peninsula in Wales, Ben Nevis in Scotland and the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland are used.
Sarah Rapson, chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service, said: "What we're not trying to do is represent every single aspect of Britain today.
"We've deliberately chosen scenic Britain, the images you're seeing are representative of that aspect of Britain."
The 10-year adult passport, which will cost the same £77.50 as now, uses complex images to help prevent fraud.
