The UK After Brexit: Roaming Costs or an eSIM?

Last updated on 6 October 2026

Since Brexit, the EU roaming regulation no longer applies in the United Kingdom. On 30 September 2026, Telekom, Vodafone, o2 and 1&1 still bill England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland like the EU on a voluntary basis, o2 only until 31 December 2026. On Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man only Telekom does the same: with Vodafone, one megabyte there costs about €4.10 without an add-on, or €7.99 a day with EasyTravel.

With a German contract you rarely need an eSIM for a city break in London. It starts to make sense for o2 customers travelling from January 2027, on the Channel Islands, when your roaming allowance is small and for devices without their own contract. The United Kingdom eSIM starts at €2.90 for 1 GB over seven days, and seven days of unlimited data with Unlimited Smart cost €7.90. Networks and every unlimited duration are compared in the UK eSIM comparison.

Which German plans still include the UK?

Sources: Vodafone InfoDok 443 (footnotes 13 and 14, our translation), o2 roaming options, 1&1 roaming, teltarif.de on Telekom and 1&1. Telekom’s own pages block automated requests, so the Telekom row comes from a secondary source.

None of the four has to do this. The EU roaming regulation covers the EU states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and, since 1 January 2026, Moldova and Ukraine; the UK is not on the list. Each operator decides for itself and can withdraw the rule. Telekom sets a fair-use limit of 1,000 minutes and 1,000 texts a month in the UK, and plans with unlimited data get a plan-specific allowance abroad. How congstar, Aldi Talk, freenet and other operators treat the UK was checked in the UK comparison on 5 September 2026.

What would the UK cost if the special rule ends?

For o2 the date is set. If o2 does not extend the rule, the UK moves into world zone 2 on 1 January 2027, the zone that also covers Switzerland. On 30 September 2026 o2 has not said what it would then charge for the UK. For comparison, these are today’s prices in Switzerland:

Sources: o2online.de, Switzerland roaming pages (read 30 Sept 2026); teltarif.de on Roaming Basic 2018 and on 1&1 (August and July 2026). Whether 1&1 would offer its zone A packs for the UK is open; teltarif lists only Andorra, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey and Switzerland there.

If you fly to London with o2 in January or later, read o2’s roaming page shortly before you go. The UK eSIM costs €7.90 for seven days of unlimited data and €12.90 for 15 days, whatever o2 decides.

Where does the UK rule not apply?

Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom. They are self-governing Crown Dependencies, and operators list them as separate countries. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

As of 30 September 2026. Sources: Vodafone InfoDok 443 (zone 1: €0.20 per 50 kB) and InfoDok 4607 (EasyTravel, preset on most plans); o2online.de (zones); teltarif.de on Telekom and 1&1 (July 2026); POVNOMAD product pages.

Airalo states that its UK eSIM does not cover Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man. Our UK eSIM also works only in the United Kingdom. For a trip via St Malo to Jersey and Guernsey, the Europe eSIM for 40+ countries fits: it covers France, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar and the UK on one profile, 3 GB over 30 days for €10.50.

What happens at the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland?

The border runs for 499 kilometres with 268 crossing points and no controls. Phones switch between British and Irish networks there. According to Ofcom, more than one in five mobile customers in Northern Ireland (22%) have ended up on an Irish network by accident, as the comparison site Uswitch reported on 14 July 2026. With a German contract this costs nothing extra today: Ireland is in the EU, and the four big German operators bill the UK like the EU. With o2 that can change from 2027. If the rule lapses, every connection to a Northern Irish network counts as world zone 2, including on the Irish side in Donegal or near Dundalk.

With a single-country eSIM, the border becomes a coverage question. The UK eSIM uses British networks only, the Ireland eSIM Irish networks only. Close to the border, the signal from its own country can be weak. For a trip across the whole island, say Dublin, the Giant’s Causeway and Belfast, the Europe eSIM for 30+ countries covers Ireland and the UK on one profile: 1 GB over seven days costs €2.90, 5 GB over 30 days €8.90.

The same happens on England’s south coast. In Kent and Sussex, phones can pick up French networks, according to Uswitch. With a German contract it makes no difference, since France is in the EU. With the UK eSIM, pick a British network by hand if the signal drops.

London, Scotland or the ferry: when do you need an eSIM?

On the ferry from Dover to Calais or from Rotterdam to Hull, your phone can connect to an on-board network. Neither EU roaming nor the UK rule applies there. Telekom charges €2.99 per minute of calls in on-board networks and only allows data with special passes (teltarif.de, July 2026), and o2 excludes satellite roaming on ferries. Turn data roaming off on board and use the ship’s Wi-Fi.

In the Scottish Highlands and on the Hebrides every network drops out at times, whatever SIM you use. Download maps and bookings before you go.

How much do UK eSIMs cost?

Prices on 30 September 2026 from povnomad.com, airalo.com (UK page, EUR) and esim.holafly.com/de (Great Britain, EUR). POVNOMAD and Airalo slow to 1 Mbit/s after the daily allowance. Holafly states no threshold for the UK and allows 1 GB of hotspot a day. Prices can change.

At the same 3 GB daily threshold, Unlimited XL costs €12.90 for seven days and Airalo €24.50. Unlimited Smart gives you 1 GB a day and 1 Mbit/s after that, enough for maps and messaging. If you need little data, a fixed package does the job: 3 GB over 15 days costs €4.90 with us, and 3 GB over seven days €8.50 at Airalo. Our UK eSIM runs on Three, O2 or Vodafone with 4G and 5G, hotspot included.

Frequently asked questions

As of 30 September 2026. Tariff details from Vodafone, o2 and 1&1 documents and from teltarif.de with the dates given; competitor prices from airalo.com and esim.holafly.com; POVNOMAD prices from the product pages on 30 September 2026. What German plans cost in Switzerland, Turkey and the Western Balkans is covered in Roaming outside the EU.