Britons living in Spain and Portugal could get government help to leave the countries if the crisis in the eurozone sends their banks into meltdown.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Treasury is putting measures in place to help evacuate thousands of expatriates living in Spain and Portugal in case they are stranded no access to their savings.
The two countries, which both have sizeable British populations, were among those made vulnerable by the “sustained deterioration” in funding.
Spain was warned by credit rating agency Fitch that it was facing a debt downgrade along with Italy, while Ireland, Belgium, Slovenia and Cyprus were also given the warning.
Meanwhile, around one million Britons live in Spain with around 50,000 in Portugal.
The Foreign Office said it was concerned they could be cut off from their accounts if the countries’ banks called in loans.