Is it possible to exit the UK using a canceled passport, or use it to get a replacement within 24 hours?

She will most certainly not be travelling to Spain. The old passports of British citizens get automatically cancelled ("the passport issuing system will automatically cancel the old passport from the UK passport database as the new passport is being processed", "IPS will cancel your old passport when a new one is issued" - Google quotes for cites) when a new one is issued. Attempting to travel with a cancelled passport is not advisable.

Glad it all worked out, but also as a message to anyone reading this thread, please please don't follow the advice in Kruger5's http://ask.metafilter.com/223938/Is-it-possible-to-exit-the-UK-using-a-canceled-passport-or-use-it-to-get-a-replacement-within-24-hours#3238697. Doing anything that might try and distract the attention of a border guard onto another matter is likely to a) look mightily suspicious (so they might give your passport more scrutiny) and b) probably lead you to spending longer at the desk as they sort out whatever proble you raised. Reeeally bad idea.

weird how there are different answers. all authoritative. I just travelled from Toulon Hyeres airport in France to London Stansted, and back, on Ryanair. Both airports used only a visual check of the passport outbound (and only a very quick glance at that), no computer systems were involved. At Toulon there was a visual check entering, and at Stanstead there was an electronic scan entering. Whilst I wouldn't advise your friend takes her chances, it may just work! Flying into a shitty small airport in the backwoods might just be OK.

Ajp: I now see that potentially your friend is willing to engage in a bit of risk, which is not a problem and I pass no judgment (I am a seasoned traveler that's seen it all). Traveling by playing near the "foul lines" is possible, and many do it. Yes - the best shot is to have the passport looked at the but not scanned. This is possible, but you have to do certain things to better the odds in your favor (choosing a longer line over a shorter one, picking a male border agent over a female, and more important, a harmless distraction to redirect the border agent's attention and training to a non-passport related "issue.") (Side note): have you traced your steps and checked outside on the street for the missing passport, or with your local police office for a turn in?

If this was possible, a lot of people would suddenly make a lot of money, and a lot of people would suddenly be traveling for the 1st time. Definitely canceled, with no way of ever reviving the old passport.

http://ask.metafilter.com/223938/Is-it-possible-to-exit-the-UK-using-a-canceled-passport-or-use-it-to-get-a-replacement-within-24-hours#3238633:weird how there are different answers. all authoritative.Indeed :)

She turned up and threw herself on their mercy, and apparently a very unimpressed clerk took her forms, the old passport, and some new photos, and has just completed her application. The passport will be issued within 4 hours. I glad to hear that they will still occasionally bend their rules and be reasonable (the official policy on replacing lost passports taking at least a week being crazy). It was my experience when dealing with IPS that all the individuals I actually spoke to were pleasant and helpful, within the bounds of their bureaucratic rules, but actually getting the appointment and getting up to the window where you were dealing with that person can be a real pain. There's also something really insulting about the horrid IPS phone system which spends as much time telling you how little they will do for you and how if you don't get everything right first time you're screwed as it does imparting useful information.

Oh, some more detail, again for anyone who finds this thread in future. If you phone the 0300 number and talk to an IPS clerk, they can view all appointments and all cancellations for every IPS office in the UK. The clerk I spoke to suggested I hang on the phone for a few minutes while he monitored the cancellations. In the space of 5 minutes, there were two cancellations. One was for tomorrow (hundreds of miles away but still a possibility) and then another materialised, far more local, but 2 working days hence. So if you're in a similar situation, it might be worth asking to stay on the line for 10 minutes while they monitor the queue for you. Apparently cancellations get snapped up within seconds -- unsurprisingly.

Well... astonishingly.... she has been promised a new passport by the London IPS office TODAY. She turned up and threw herself on their mercy, and apparently a very unimpressed clerk took her forms, the old passport, and some new photos, and has just completed her application. The passport will be issued within 4 hours. Just to be clear, she wasn't dishonest about any of it. She told them the full story, and possibly acted a teensy bit dim on questioning. But honest throughout. Amazing. And a big relief. Thanks to everyone for their help, opinions, stories, and advice. I hope this thread is of at least some help to people in a similar predicament in the future.