Pound reaches seven-year high against Euro

The Euro has been sliding in value this year against a strengthening pound, and now holidaymakers can take advantage of the highest rate of exchange since December 2007.

Today the pound hit the €1.40 mark, which is roughly 20 cents higher than this time last year. To put that into the context of a family holiday, £500 in spending money last year would have got you approximately €600, but today you could get around €700 for the same amount (minus fees for the currency exchange from your provider).

Strengths and weaknesses

The pound is doing well against various European currencies. While the Euro continues to gain a lot of attention due to its prevalence in the continent and the ongoing Greek debt talks, the pound is faring very well against the Norwegian krone and Swedish krona, for example, when compared with last year's exchange rates.

The pound is also performing well against Eastern European currencies such as the Romanian leu, Polish zloty and Bulgarian lev. You can get a significant amount more of each for a pound than you could last year, meaning that it's not just the Eurozone segment of the EU that's becoming cheaper for UK tourists.

Further afield, the US dollar is strengthening against the pound. This time last year, you could get $1.66 to the pound – this has fallen over twelve months to around $1.50.

Exchange rates identified in this article were correct at the time of writing. The currency market fluctuates and you may find that deals you are offered are not identical to those quoted.

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