The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has launched a campaign to persuade people to buy travel insurance for weekend breaks after a survey found a third of Britons on short breaks don't bother to get cover.

Among those aged 16-24, 62 per cent admitted they rarely had insurance.

The FCO research found 58 per cent said they were unlikely to take an E111 form with them, which entitles travellers to free or discounted emergency medical treatment in the European Union, and is available free from the Post Office.

These forms will become redundant by the end of the year, when a new form will take their place for a year, before new, free, five-year European Health Insurance Cards are phased in.

Travellers without cover face mammoth bills if illness strikes. An air ambulance from Spain to the UK costs about £12,000 and heart surgery in the US could cost £35,000.

See fco.gov.uk