New air passenger security rules come into effect across the European Union on Monday, limiting what you can carry in your hand luggage and introducing more stringent security checks.

The measures were drawn up after British authorities in August announced that they had foiled an alleged plot to blow up US-bound airliners using liquid explosives smuggled aboard in drink or other containers

Under the new rules, which will apply to all passengers departing from EU airports, liquids will only be allowed on board planes in small containers with a maximum capacity of 100 millilitres.

These liquids -- the rules cover creams, hair gels, pressurised containers and mascara among other items -- must then be packed in a transparent re-sealable plastic bag.

Medicine and baby foods will be exempt as will drinks and perfumes bought at airport shops before boarding.

European Commission Transport spokesman Ferran Tarradellas-Espuny said that the new rules also stipulated that laptops and "other large electrical devices", including radios and video cameras, will have to be taken out and screened separately. Jackets and coats will also have to be removed.

He added that the new rules, which will also be applied by non-EU members Albania, Iceland, Kosovo, Norway and Switzerland, are "minimum measures that all EU airports have to apply" and that "member states can take more stringent measures if required".

The spokesman said that passengers arriving at EU airports would not be affected and even for departing passengers larger quantities of liquids could be carried in checked-in luggage.

In a bid to avoid confusion over the new measures, the European Commission, EU member states and air industry and safety experts have drawn up a pamphlet giving all the information in a simple format.

The blueprint has been translated into several languages and posted on many of the relevant airline and airport websites throughout the bloc.

"It is in the interest of all EU airlines and airports to inform their passengers as much as possible, and that is why we have a commonly agreed text which has been translated into other languages and which the industry has put up on websites," said a European Commission transport official.

"We have feedback from the industry that the information is widely spread".

There is still room for some confusion as the rules are minimum requirements, and there is nothing to stop member states from introducing stricter restrictions for their own airports.

Airports and airlines around Europe have been gearing up for the new measures for weeks, with some offering transparent plastic bags to passengers at least during the first days of the new regulations.

Italian airports will hand out plastic bags for the first several days of the new rules, but advise passengers after that to bring their own "kind of freezer bags".

Dutch airline KLM is recommending that passengers arrive early for flights to avoid "irritation", two hours for a European flight and three hours early for a transatlantic flight.

Amsterdam's Schipol airport has taken on 600 temporary staff to explain the new rules to passengers

EU-wide restrictions on the size of hand luggage allowed on board planes will come into effect next April.

However British airports, and Germany's Frankfurt airport, one of the biggest in Europe, have already announced a 56cmx45cmx25cm (approximately 22x17.7x10 inches) size limit on hand luggage.