These are the latest recommended Christmas posting dates for international mail

The festive period is a busy time and with so much organising to do ahead of the big day, it can be easy to leave some tasks until the last minute - including sorting out your Christmas mail.

If you are planning to send out presents to your nearest and dearest who live abroad, Royal Mail has announced the latest posting dates to ensure your parcels arrive on time.

International posting dates

The latest posting dates for cards and gifts apply to both standard international services and those which have tracking and signature.

These are the recommended dates from Royal Mail for overseas destinations:

Monday 9 December

Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Central and South America, the Far East, and the Middle east.

Tuesday 10 December

Cyprus and Malta

Wednesday 11 December

Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia)

Thursday 12 December

Australia, New Zealand, Greece and Turkey

Saturday 14 December

Canada, Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Finland, Sweden and the USA

Monday 16 December

Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland

Wednesday 18 December

Belgium, France, Ireland and Luxembourg

Royal Mail has announced the latest recommended posting dates to ensure parcels arrive in time for Christmas (Photo: Getty Images)

Christmas posting dates in the UK

To ensure all of your letters and parcels arrive in time for Christmas in the UK, Royal Mail recommends posting by the following dates:

Wednesday 18 December

2nd Class and 2nd Class Signed For

Friday 20 December

1st Class and 1st Class Signed For and Royal Mail Tracked 48

Saturday 21 December

Royal Mail Tracked 24

Monday 23 December

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, Edinburgh Evening News.