The Passport Office is seeing "unprecedented demand" because of a post-Covid backlog.
More than 5 million people delayed applying for passports during the pandemic. The eyewatering figure was revealed as the Passport Office responded to "considerable press coverage of people facing holiday cancellations or travel disruption due to waiting times for passports".
Since last year, the Passport Office has been advising people to submit their paperwork 10 weeks in advance. But some people say they have been waiting longer than the advised period, leaving them at risk of cancelling their holiday and losing hundreds of pounds.