The cold weather, dark days and post-Christmas blues is enough to make anyone yearn for a bit of winter sun, which is why January often proves a popular month for booking holidays.

While household funds may be a little low after the expensive festive season, the start of the new year tends to bring with it a wealth of sales and discounts – including on holidays. But while planning your next break is the fun part, packing to go abroad is a bit more stressful, particularly when you have strict size and weight requirements to meet.

There’s also a huge list of items that are outright banned on flights, with hand luggage carrying particularly tight restrictions, so it’s always worth checking the rules to avoid running into trouble at airport security.

If you’re planning a faraway escape, long-haul airlines tend to offer a more generous baggage allowance but the same rules on what you can and cannot take in your hand luggage still apply, including on major carriers like British Airways, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and Aer Lingus, which ban certain items from being taken inside the cabin.

So if you need a reminder of the rules before you fly, listed are every banned item passengers cannot take inside their carry-on bag on flights, and anyone in breach of these rules will face having their items confiscated:

1. Liquids

Liquid containers must not exceed 100ml to be allowed in hand luggage. Any liquids exceeding this limit must go into hold luggage instead. Travellers taking liquids up to 100ml in their carry-on must place the items in a transparent, resealable plastic bag, which holds no more than a litre and measures approximately 20cm x 20cm.

2. Exceptions to the 100ml rule

Travellers can only take liquid containers larger than 100ml through security if they are for essential medical purposes, are for special dietary requirements, or contain baby food or baby milk. You can also take liquids bought at an airport or on a plane (such as duty-free) through security if the items are sealed inside a security bag when you buy them, and the receipt for the items is sealed in the security bag and visible.

3. Lighters

Travellers can only carry one lighter on board, and this should be put inside a resealable plastic bag, which must be kept on you throughout the flight. You cannot put it in your hold luggage, or put it in your hand luggage after screening.

4. Other personal items

Corkscrews, knives, large scissors (with blades longer than 6cm), non-safety matches, fireworks, flares and other pyrotechnics, including party poppers and toy caps, cigarette lighters and frozen breast milk, are all banned from hand luggage.

5. Sports equipment

Various items of sports equipment cannot be taken on board flights as carry-on. This includes baseball, softball and cricket bats, golf clubs, darts, walking/hiking poles, a catapult, firearms (including replica firearms), harpoons or spear guns, crossbows, or martial arts equipment.

6. Work tools

Several work tools must not be packed in hand luggage. Banned items include tools with a blade or shaft longer than 6cm, drills and drill bits, a Stanley knife, saws, screwdrivers, hammers, pliers, wrenches or spanners, bolt or nail guns, crowbars and blowtorches. 

7. Chemicals and toxic substances

Chemical and toxic substances are banned from taking on flights as hand luggage or in the hold. Items include oxidisers and organic peroxides, acids and alkalis, corrosives or bleaching agents, vehicle batteries and fuel systems, self-defence sprays, radioactive materials, poisons, biological hazards, materials that could spontaneously combust, and fire extinguishers.

8. Ammunition

You cannot take any guns or firearms (including air rifles and starting pistols) as hand luggage. You may be able to take them as hold luggage, but you should check with your airline before you travel. Banned items in hand luggage include grenades, fireworks, smoke canisters, smoke cartridges, flares, plastic explosives and gun cigarette lighters.

Airlines specific rules

Airlines have online information on banned items for hand luggage on flights, and dedicated guides for passengers can be found on the websites of airports across the UK, including London Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. 

Passengers who are unsure about the rules for a specific item are advised to contact their airline or travel operator directly for more information.