Alcohol and a willingness to take risks have been staple elements in many of the horror stories that have filtered back home from British tourists who have got into serious scrapes abroad.

But so, too, has ignorance of foreign customs and a lack of familiarity with the local environment.

The dangers posed by combining these two factors was dramatically brought home earlier this month with the arrest of a British couple in Dubai who were caught having sex on a beach hours after they met during a heavy drinking session.

Publishing executive Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors, the head of an IT firm, were apparently warned by United Arab Emirates police after being discovered, but were found a short time later having failed to heed the request to stop.

They are due to stand trial this month for drunkenness and having sex in public and outside marriage, for which they face up to six years in prison.

Though holiday troubles are nothing new, there is evidence that the boom in cheap overseas breaks has gone hand-in-hand with a rise in the numbers of British citizens falling foul of foreign laws and suffering serious health consequences.

The recent trend for holding stag and hen nights abroad, aided by cheaper than ever short-haul flights, is said by some experts to have exemplified some of the worst aspects of UK hedonism.

Cheaper alcohol prices abroad have only exacerbated problems, as holidaymakers consume far more alcohol than they would do at home.

Professor Mark Bellis, director of the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University, said there was now an "international party scene" involving young British tourists who had taken advantage of the new affordability of destinations in places such as Spain, Greece and Eastern Europe.

"That's really a new phenomenon," he said. "It can be very difficult in taking action to prevent people getting into trouble or taking risks as they are engaging in the same type of risky behaviour in a number of different destinations."

Professor Bellis said that, despite attempts by the government and tour agencies to discourage excessive drinking among young holidaymakers, there was still a strong association between holidays and alcohol.

"You only have to look around most UK airports to see that there are still a lot of drinks offers being targeted at tourists," he said. "I certainly think there is an opportunity to provide much more information and advice for tourists about the risks they face while abroad."

In one of the worst cases involving Scots, in 2006 four men were arrested on arrival on the Greek island of Zakynthos for a week-long 18-30 holiday after being accused of air rage while on the flight from Scotland. Two of them, Pieter Meinen and Graeme McDonnell, were told they would have to remain in Greece for 18 months to await trial for "endangering civil aviation" - a charge that carries a 20-year sentence and is normally reserved for terrorists - but later skipped bail and returned to the UK.

One of Radio 1's most famous dance DJs, Raymond Bingham, who goes by the stage name Grooverider, is still in jail in Dubai after being picked up in December last year at Dubai International Airport after two grams of cannabis were found in his luggage.

He is said to be pinning his hopes of release on an official pardon in September.

A spokeswoman for the FCO said excessive alcohol intake often led people to taking greater risks than they typically would do at home. "We've had a lot of instances of people being injured while trying to climb into their flat because they've forgotten their keys or getting lost and not knowing how to get to their hotel," she said.