MICHAEL Gove has warned that next year will bring "bumpy moments" for businesses and travellers as the UK leaves the EU. 

The SNP’s Alison Thewliss described the comment as the “understatement of the century.”

Britain and the EU hammered out a Brexit deal on Christmas eve - reaching agreement just days before the end of the transition period.

From 11pm on Thursday, new rules over everything from transporting goods to how much cash someone travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK can carry, will come into force.  

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Gove, whose cabinet responsibilities include Brexit preparations told the BBC: “Businesses will need to make sure that they’re ready for new customs procedures and we as individuals will need to make sure that our passports are up to date because they need to have at least six months before expiry on them in order to be able to travel abroad.

“I’m sure there will be bumpy moments but we are there in order to try to do everything we can to smooth the path.”

He warned businesses that time was "very short" to make the final preparations.

"The nature of our new relationship with the EU - outside the Single Market and Customs Union - means that there are practical and procedural changes that businesses and citizens need to get ready for," he said.

"We know that there will be some disruption as we adjust to new ways of doing business with the EU, so it is vital that we all take the necessary action now."

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The SNP’s Shadow Chancellor Alison Thewliss said: "Michael Gove's admission that the UK will face ‘some disruption’ and ‘bumpy moments’ as a result of this extreme Tory Brexit deal must be the understatement of the century."

She added: "Millions of Businesses, including many already struggling to get by, will now face a mountain of extra costs, red tape, bureaucracy and barriers to trade in just four days' time.

"People across Scotland and the UK will also see their EU benefits gradually stripped away - including our precious freedom of movement rights to live, work, study and travel freely across Europe, and will be hit with increased costs, including travel insurance and roaming charges.

"If people and businesses are unprepared it is because the Tories have left it to the last minute, on their own arbitrary deadline, and are now imposing a hard Brexit, causing months of uncertainty for those that rely on our relationship with the EU."

Meanwhile, EU ambassadors have given provisional approval for Britain's post-Brexit trade deal. 

A spokesman for the German EU presidency said the ambassadors had unanimously agreed to "green light" the agreement.

Westminster is expected to rush the deal through on Wednesday. 

The European Parliament must also formally ratify the deal in the new year - although this will now apply retrospectively.