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Daily Record
Daily Record
Business
Saffron Otter

EuroMillions lottery fears raised as Brexit looms on Friday

This Friday is B-Day as the UK finally leaves the European Union in the wake of the historic Brexit referendum in 2016.

Britain will end its 47-year membership of the European bloc at 11pm on Friday night.

Most Scots voted to stay in the EU and many are worried about how Brexit will impact on jobs, trade and the economy.

Even smaller issues such as whether we will need visas to go on holiday to Spain or France are a concern for some people.

And the Manchester Evening News reports that a number of lottery players are questioning whether or not it will make a difference to the EuroMillions.

Each Friday and Tuesday, players in the UK can purchase a EuroMillions ticket in a bid to get their hands on hundreds of millions of pounds.

A UK ticket-holder even took home the biggest ever lottery win last October after they scooped £170m in the game.

But will we lose our eligibility to play after Brexit?

EuroMillions has confirmed that UK residents can still play the game post leaving the EU. This is because you do not need to live in an EU country to buy tickets.

For example, Switzerland is not a member of the EU and has played the game since 2004.

Regardless of Britain's political status, the agreement in place to run the game is between the UK National Lottery and the official lottery operators of the eight other participating countries, therefore the UK will remain part of the EuroMillions family.

You can also still take part if you're a UK expat living in another participating country - which includes Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland.

However, Brexit can affect the value of the pound, therefore impacting the prize money as euros are converted.

When the outcome of the 2016 referendum was revealed, it led to a drop in the value of the pound, therefore the jackpot was worth more to UK winners.

EuroMillions said before the Brexit referendum, a €100 million jackpot was on average worth around £73.2 million.

And in the days that followed the referendum result, that same jackpot was worth approximately £80.8 million, an increase of £7.6 million.

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