EE to charge pay-as-you-go customers for roaming in Europe from today – here's what it means for you

The shake-up will affect anyone who has a pay-as-you-go subscription or top-up credit with EE. The provider already reintroduced roaming charges for its pay monthly customers last year.

Mobile firms were banned from charging customers extra fees to use their UK allowance of minutes, texts and data (subject to a fair use cap) in Europe while the UK was still part of the EU. But now the post-Brexit transition is over, these rules no longer apply.

For full help on how to use your phone abroad for less, see our Cheap Mobile and Data Roaming guide.

EE pay-as-you-go users will be charged for roaming in Europe from today

From 6 June, all of EE's pay-as-you-go mobile customers will be charged for roaming in its "European zone", which covers 47 destinations (see the full list below).

If you want to use your phone to connect to a local mobile network or make calls and texts, by default you'll now be charged EE's standard rates, which are:

• Calls: 70p a minute.

• Texts: 30p each.

• Data: £3 for 500MB (this can be charged every 24 hours you use your data).

It's worth noting that this doesn't apply to the Republic of Ireland – you'll pay the same to use your phone in Ireland as you do in the UK.

If you want to stay with EE, you may be able to cut roaming costs with a daily or weekly add-on

If you have one of EE's 30-day subscription packs – which let you pay upfront for a certain amount of calls, texts and data – you may be able to cut the cost of using your phone in Europe by buying one of EE's new "Roam like Home" add-ons. These let you use the UK allowances from your subscription pack and cost:

• £2.50 for 24 hours - to activate this, text ROAMEU1D to 150.

• £10 for seven days - to activate this, text ROAMEU7D to 150.

You'll receive a welcome text from the local network when you arrive at your destination and you can opt to buy the add-on then, or at a later point. If you don't already have a subscription pack, you can buy one first and then get the add-on.

You can monitor your usage and check your allowances for free by texting 'BALANCE' to 150 at any time. If you run out, you'll be charged the individual call, text and data prices detailed above unless you buy another subscription pack.

Not happy about the changes? You can easily switch to a different network

If you'd rather not pay roaming fees in Europe and beyond and you're happy to leave EE, you can switch to a different provider. While many of the biggest mobile firms have reintroduced roaming charges for pay monthly customers, some – including Three and O2 – still offer free roaming in Europe on their pay-as-you-go plans for now. See our Cheap mobile and data roaming guide for each provider's policy.

If you're planning to switch away from EE, make sure you use up your pay-as-you-go credit or current subscription pack allowance first. If you have a subscription pack paid for by recurring card payment, EE will keep taking your recurring top-up until you tell it to stop.

You can change or cancel your recurring top-up by:

• Logging in to your My EE account;

• Calling 150 from your EE phone; or

• Texting STOP REC to 150 from your EE phone.

Want to keep your number when you switch? It's simple:

1. Request a switching code by text. Simply text PAC for free to 65075 and you'll be sent your "porting authorisation code" (PAC) immediately via text.

2. Give the switching code to your new provider within 30 days. You'll then be switched within one working day.