Guide

EU roaming charges for UK phones in 2026: EE, Vodafone, O2, Three

Which UK networks charge a daily fee for roaming in Europe as of October 2026, their fair use limits, what counts as Europe, and when an eSIM makes sense.

Published October 1, 2026 · 9 min read · MoreSim editorial team

EE, Vodafone and Three charge a daily fee for roaming in the EU on most plans in 2026, while O2 and giffgaff include Europe in your plan up to a data limit. As of October 1, 2026, EE charges the fee on pay monthly plans started from July 7, 2021, Vodafone on plans from August 11, 2021, and Three on plans joined or upgraded since October 1, 2021, unless roaming is built into your plan. Since Brexit, free roaming isn’t guaranteed for UK customers, so each network sets its own terms and its own idea of what counts as Europe.

What are the EU roaming charges on UK networks in 2026?

EE, Vodafone and Three charge a daily fee on most current plans, while O2 and giffgaff include Europe up to a data limit. The table summarizes each network’s published terms, checked on October 1, 2026.

Vodafone includes the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, Iceland and Norway (its Zone A) on pay monthly and pay as you go. Three charges no daily fee in Ireland or on the Isle of Man, nor to pay as you go customers in Go Roam in Europe. On EE pay as you go, you opt in to a Roam like Home add-on for 24 hours or 7 days.

Among smaller networks, Tesco Mobile includes 48 “Home From Home” destinations, SMARTY allows up to 12GB a month in the EU, and VOXI needs a European Roaming Pass. Whatever your network, UK law caps how much you can be charged for mobile data abroad each month unless you opt out, and you get alerts as you approach the cap, according to GOV.UK.

Which countries count as “Europe” for your network?

Each UK network draws its own Europe zone, which isn’t the same as the EU. All five cover the 27 EU countries, Iceland, Norway and Gibraltar; the edges differ. “Free” means no daily fee even where your plan pays one elsewhere in Europe, “Yes” means normal Europe terms, “No” means a separate rate (as of October 1, 2026):

Outside the zone you pay separately: Turkey is in EE’s Zone 1, Vodafone’s Zone C, Three’s Around the World Extra band and O2’s Travel Bolt On list. On Greek islands near the Turkish coast and in Cyprus, your phone can join a Turkish network by accident, as EE and giffgaff warn. For the Crown Dependencies, see our guide to roaming in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

How do daily roaming charges add up on a trip?

A daily fee is charged per phone for each day you use it abroad, so the total grows with trip length and the number of phones. EE charges only on days you use minutes, texts or data, midnight to midnight UK time; Three’s charge unlocks your allowance for 24 hours. What changes the total:

• Phones: each line on a daily-fee plan pays its own fee, so a family of four pays it four times a day.
• Passes: Vodafone’s 8-day and 15-day passes and Three’s multi-day Go Roam passes can cost less than paying day by day; Three says its passes can give you up to 2 days of roaming free.
• Quiet days: on EE, a day without calls, texts or data abroad doesn’t trigger the fee.

Fees change: Vodafone raised its Zone B daily fee on April 14, 2026, and Three’s newer fee rises annually. Check your plan’s current fee in your network’s app before you fly.

Does your roaming deal work on cruises, ferries and planes?

Usually not: ships and planes use their own maritime and in-flight networks, outside UK networks’ Europe zones. Three bills them at standard roaming rates, SMARTY charges maritime use from Out of Plan add-ons, and EE sells a separate 24-hour Maritime Pass with unlimited calls and texts and 500MB of data, bought on board.

On a ferry, your phone switches to the ship’s network as the shore signal fades, and Three warns this can happen near a port too. Keep data roaming off on your home SIM at sea unless you’ve bought a pass. A Europe travel eSIM covers land networks in the countries on its list, not ship networks.

When does a travel eSIM make more sense than roaming?

A travel eSIM makes sense when roaming costs more than the trip needs or doesn’t cover where you’re going:

• A long trip on a plan with a daily fee, or several phones in the family each paying it.
• You need more data than your network’s European cap: 5GB per plan on giffgaff, 12GB on Three or SMARTY.
• Your route includes places your network leaves out, such as Turkey on all five networks above or Switzerland on giffgaff.
• A tablet: O2’s free EU roaming covers phone SIMs only.

Roaming is simpler when Europe is included and you stay under the cap. A travel eSIM adds a data line next to your number rather than replacing it; our comparison of roaming and travel eSIMs covers the trade-offs.

As of October 1, 2026, MoreSim’s Europe plan covers 47 countries on one eSIM, including the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Turkey, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Serbia and Montenegro. Andorra, Monaco, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Faroe Islands have their own country plans instead. Our guide to one eSIM for all of Europe explains the regional plan.

MoreSim plans are mobile data only, with no phone number: call through messaging apps where they aren’t restricted; bank texts arrive on your home SIM. Buy on moresim.online or in the Telegram bot @moresim_bot: pay with Telegram Stars from any country, right in the bot; bank card and SBP payments currently work with cards issued in Russia. The QR code arrives in the chat in about 30 seconds.

How do you keep your UK number for bank texts?

Keep your UK SIM on for calls and texts and let a travel eSIM handle data: eSIM phones can usually run both lines at once. On your home SIM, turn off mobile data so you don’t go online through your home carrier. Keep the line itself on if you’re expecting texts from your bank: that requires roaming to be available on it.

Check what starts the daily charge: EE lists receiving calls among the things it covers, so an answered call may cost the day’s fee; ask whether an incoming text counts too. On the travel eSIM line, turn on data roaming: most travel eSIMs run on a local carrier’s network as roaming, so without it you won’t get data. If your plan’s instructions say otherwise, follow them.

What should you check before you fly?

Run through these in your network’s app a few days before you go:

1. Look up your plan’s daily fee, passes and data cap in Europe, and check every country on your route against its Europe zone.
2. Make sure roaming is on in your account and your spend cap covers the daily charges: EE and Three say a cap set to zero can block roaming.
3. On EE, turn off Wi-Fi Calling: EE says it works only in the UK.
4. If you’re using a travel eSIM, install it at home over Wi-Fi and keep that line off until you land.
5. After landing, set the eSIM as your data line and check it works before leaving the airport.