International Travel - UK plate to replace GB plate

[NJS5]

By now I anticipate that we are all aware that for travel abroad we need to display a UK plate tin plate of the pre-Brexit GB plate.

I was surprised when searching for a suitable plate on Amazon to read comments from disappointed customers that the UK plates that they had ordered were undersized, and thus illegal.

Although the supplied sticker may look neater on your car apparently the French police are particularly keen to collect a €90 on-the-spot fine if you are caught with an undersized plate.

I checked one I bought last year & found it to be substantially undersized as the letters were only 6 cm tall.

The UNECE Convention on Road Traffic of 8 November 1968 - Annex 3 states (in part):

The distinguishing sign... shall consist of one to three letters in capital Latin characters. The letters shall have a height of at least 0.08 m and their strokes a width of at least 0.01 m. The letters shall be painted in black on a white ground having the shape of an ellipse with the major axis horizontal.

To sum up in essence the letters should be a minimum of 8cm/80mm high with a stroke thickness of 1cm/10 mm.

I hope this "heads-up" may ensure one or two of us avoid on-th-spot fines in France & elsewhere.

NJSS

 

[NJS5]

I am reminded that UK and flag on number plate removes the need for an oval UK plate, but not if travelling in Spain, Cyprus or Malta

https://www.gov.uk/displaying-number-plate...dentifiers

Quote:​

Driving outside the UK

If your number plate includes the UK identifier with the Union flag (also known as the Union Jack), you do not need a UK sticker.

However, you will need to display a UK sticker clearly on the rear of your vehicle if your number plate has any of the following:

a GB identifier with the Union flag
a Euro symbol
a national flag of England, Scotland or Wales
numbers and letters only - no flag or identifier
If you’re in Spain, Cyprus or Malta, you must display a UK sticker no matter what is on your number plate.

If you have a GB sticker, cover or remove it before driving outside the UK.

For those travelling in Europe these links might also be helpful:-

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/driving-in-europe/checklist/

https://www.theaa.com/european-breakdown-c...-do-i-need

NJSS

 

[LostKiwi]

I would suspect reports of French police being overly keen to collect fines may be somewhat exaggerated and most likely a result of being pulled over for doing something else such as speeding past a police vehicle.

We go to France very regularly and have never been pulled over by French police.

The only time we've had any interest in the car was once when we stopped at an Aire we had a customs vehicle pull up and block us in asking where we were going and where we had come from. It seems they were looking for British vehicles smuggling cigarettes from Gibraltar and as we had ferry tickets and boarding passes from that morning and were going the wrong way they lost interest very quickly.

 

[Srdl]

I am reminded that UK and flag on number plate removes the need for an oval UK plate, but not if travelling in Spain, Cyprus or Malta

https://www.gov.uk/displaying-number-plate...dentifiers


For those travelling in Europe these links might also be helpful:-

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/driving-in-europe/checklist/

https://www.theaa.com/european-breakdown-c...-do-i-need

NJSS

Spot on - the old “EU” type plates are legal if they show “UK” and the flag. A day or two ago, I ordered some UK stickers to cover the GB stickers I put on last year, under the transitional rules, to cover the old EU flag!

 

[rf065]

When you say the plates are undersized, you mean the letters, because there is no size stated in law for the actual number plate itself.

 

[NJS5]

Correct "the letters were only 6 cm tall."

NJSS

 

[Srdl]

These arrived this morning. Haven’t tried them for size yet.

 

[Blobcat]

These arrived this morning. Haven’t tried them for size yet.

View attachment 74346

Should have gone for the green background

 

[Srdl]

Should have gone for the green background

I was tempted - but wouldn’t go with the AMG badge!

 

[00slk]

Why can't we use the GB plates, we had to put GB on ours cars before we joined the EU, so what's changed?

 

[Judwin]

Why can't we use the GB plates, we had to put GB on ours cars before we joined the EU, so what's changed?

Boris and his cronies have shares in number plate manufacturers. Boost profits by forcing everyone with a GB number plate to replace it with a UK one.

 

[Timeandleisure]

To include Northern Ireland.... GB is only Eng, Scot and Wales

 

[brandwooddixon]

We tend to forget that the official title for our country is United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

I guess that Northern Ireland lose their NI sticker.

 

[Naraic]

We tend to forget that the official title for our country is United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

I guess that Northern Ireland lose their NI sticker.

Northern Ireland doesn't have an NI sticker. It's just an upside down IN sticker...some people use them to make a point about belonging to NI not GB nor IRL...but they are strictly unofficial.

 

[00slk]

NI seem to be making things difficult at the moment, Scotland seems to be wanting to be on their own, so lets go WE plates (Wales/England) Makes sense

 

[keefysher]

NI seem to be making things difficult at the moment, Scotland seems to be wanting to be on their own, so lets go WE plates (Wales/England) Makes sense

Or in your case Water Everywhere

 

[rf065]

NI seem to be making things difficult at the moment, Scotland seems to be wanting to be on their own, so lets go WE plates (Wales/England) Makes sense

Go for it, everyone will be happy!

 

[00slk]

Go for it, everyone will be happy!

That will confuse the plate maker at Halfords