diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/.validate b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/.validate
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..2b1b913853
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/.validate
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# THIS FILE IS PART OF THE CYLC WORKFLOW ENGINE.
+# Copyright (C) NIWA & British Crown (Met Office) & Contributors.
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+set -euxo pipefail
+
+test_one () {
+    ID="$(< /dev/urandom tr -dc A-Za-z | head -c6 || true)"
+
+    # start the workflow
+    cylc vip \
+        --check-circular \
+        --no-detach \
+        --final-cycle-point=P0D \
+        --no-run-name \
+        --workflow-name "$ID" \
+        ./one
+
+    # the start task should have expired
+    grep 'start.*(internal)expired' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+
+    # the following task(s) should not have run
+    ! grep 'a.*running' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+    ! grep 'b.*running' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+
+    # lint
+    cylc lint "$ID"
+
+    # clean up
+    cylc clean "$ID"
+}
+
+
+test_two () {
+    ID="$(< /dev/urandom tr -dc A-Za-z | head -c6 || true)"
+
+    # start the workflow
+    cylc vip \
+        --check-circular \
+        --no-detach \
+        --final-cycle-point=P0D \
+        --no-run-name \
+        --workflow-name "$ID" \
+        ./two
+
+    # the start task should run
+    grep 'start.*running' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+
+    # some other task in the chain should expire
+    grep '(internal)expired' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+
+    # the housekeep task at the end of the cycle should not run
+    ! grep 'housekeep.*running' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+
+    # lint
+    cylc lint "$ID"
+
+    # clean up
+    cylc clean "$ID"
+}
+
+
+test_three () {
+    ID="$(< /dev/urandom tr -dc A-Za-z | head -c6 || true)"
+
+    # start the workflow
+    cylc vip \
+        --check-circular \
+        --no-detach \
+        --final-cycle-point=P0D \
+        --no-run-name \
+        --workflow-name "$ID" \
+        ./three
+
+    # the start task should expire
+    grep 'start.*(internal)expired' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+    [[ ! -f "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/job/"*"/a/NN/job" ]]
+
+    # only the "a" and "housekeep" tasks should run
+    [[ $(cd "$HOME/cylc-run/XOECeJ/log/job/"*; echo *) == 'a housekeep' ]]
+
+    # tasks b, c and d should skip
+    grep '\/b.*run mode=skip' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+    grep '\/c.*run mode=skip' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+    grep '\/d.*run mode=skip' "$HOME/cylc-run/$ID/log/scheduler/log"
+
+    # lint
+    cylc lint "$ID"
+
+    # clean up
+    cylc clean "$ID"
+}
+
+
+test_one
+test_two
+test_three
diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/index.rst b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a2a9f82c2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+.. _examples.expiry:
+
+Expiring Tasks / Cycles
+-----------------------
+
+Cylc is often used to write workflows which monitor real-world events.
+
+For example, this workflow will run the task ``foo`` every day at 00:00am:
+
+.. code-block:: cylc
+
+   [scheduling]
+      initial cycle point = previous(T00)
+      [[graph]]
+          P1D = """
+              @wall_clock => foo
+          """
+
+Sometimes such workflows might get behind, e.g. due to failures or slow task
+execution. In this situation, it might be necessary to skip a few tasks in
+order for the workflow to catch up with the real-world time.
+
+Cylc has a concept called :ref:`expiry <ClockExpireTasks>` which allows tasks
+to be automatcially "expired" if they are running behind schedule.
+
+.. seealso::
+
+   :ref:`ClockExpireTasks`.
+
+
+Example 1: Skip a whole cycle of tasks
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If the workflow gets behind, skip whole cycles of tasks until it catches up.
+
+.. admonition:: Get a copy of this example
+   :class: hint
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      $ cylc get-resources examples/expiry/one
+
+.. literalinclude:: one/flow.cylc
+   :language: cylc
+
+
+Example 2: Skip the remainder of a cycle of tasks
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If the workflow gets behind, skip the remainder of the tasks in the cycle,
+then skip whole cycles of tasks until it catches up.
+
+.. admonition:: Get a copy of this example
+   :class: hint
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      $ cylc get-resources examples/expiry/two
+
+.. literalinclude:: two/flow.cylc
+   :language: cylc
+
+
+Example 3: Skip selected tasks in a cycle
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If the workflow gets behind, turn off selected tasks to allow it to catch up
+more quickly.
+
+.. admonition:: Get a copy of this example
+   :class: hint
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      $ cylc get-resources examples/expiry/three
+
+.. literalinclude:: three/flow.cylc
+   :language: cylc
diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/one/flow.cylc b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/one/flow.cylc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..528dbaa233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/one/flow.cylc
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+[meta]
+    description = """
+        If the workflow runs slowly and the cycle time gets behind the real
+        world (wallclock) time, then it will skip cycles until it catches up.
+
+        Either a cycle runs or it is skipped.
+
+        When you start this workflow, the first cycle will be at 00:00am this
+        morning so will immediately expire causing the workflow to move onto
+        tomorrow's cycle.
+    """
+
+[scheduler]
+    allow implicit tasks = True
+
+[scheduling]
+    # start the workflow at 00:00am this morning
+    initial cycle point = previous(T00)
+
+    # the "start" task will "expire" if the cycle time falls behind
+    # the wallclock time
+    [[special tasks]]
+        clock-expire = start
+
+    [[graph]]
+        P1D = """
+            # the chain of tasks we want to run
+            start => a => b => c => d => housekeep
+
+            # wait for the previous cycle to either complete or expire before
+            # continuing onto the next cycle
+            housekeep[-P1D] | start[-P1D]:expired? => start
+        """
diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/three/flow.cylc b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/three/flow.cylc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8613aafd6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/three/flow.cylc
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+[meta]
+    description = """
+        If the workflow runs slowly and the cycle time gets behind the real
+        world (wallclock) time, then it will skip selected tasks until it
+        catches up.
+
+        In this case, the tasks "b", "c" and "d" will be skipped to help the
+        workflow to catch up more quickly.
+
+        When this workflow starts up, the first cycle will be at 00:00am today
+        so the "start" task will immediately expire. This will cause tasks
+        "b", "c" and "d" to be configured to "skip" rather than run.
+    """
+
+[scheduler]
+    allow implicit tasks = True
+
+[scheduling]
+    # start the workflow at 00:00am this morning
+    initial cycle point = previous(T00)
+    final cycle point = +P0D
+
+    # the "start" task will "expire" if the cycle time falls behind
+    # the wallclock time
+    [[special tasks]]
+        clock-expire = start
+
+    [[graph]]
+        P1D = """
+            # the chain of tasks we want to run
+            start | start:expired? => a => b => c => d => housekeep
+        """
+
+[runtime]
+    [[start]]
+        # if this task expires, configure the tasks "b", "c" and "d" to
+        # "skip" rather than run
+        # Note: This task will also be "skipped" if it expires
+        [[[events]]]
+            expired handlers = cylc broadcast "%(workflow)s" -p "%(point)s" -n b -n c -n d -s "run mode = skip"
diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/two/flow.cylc b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/two/flow.cylc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..66d3fd6518
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/expiry/two/flow.cylc
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+[meta]
+    description = """
+        If the workflow runs slowly and the cycle time gets behind the real
+        world (wallclock) time, then it will skip tasks until it catches up.
+
+        A cycle may be skipped part way through to allow the workflow to catch
+        up faster.
+
+        When this workflow starts up, the first cycle will be one minute ahead
+        of the wallclock time. At some point in the cycle, the wallclock time
+        will overtake the cycle time and the next task in the chain will
+        expire. The workflow will then move onto the next cycle.
+    """
+
+[scheduler]
+    allow implicit tasks = True
+
+[scheduling]
+    # start the workflow at 00:00am this morning
+    initial cycle point = PT1M
+
+    # any task in the workflow will "expire" rather than run if the cycle
+    # time falls behind the wallclock time
+    [[special tasks]]
+        clock-expire = start, a, b, c, d, housekeep
+
+    [[graph]]
+        P1D = """
+            # the chain of tasks we want to run
+            start => a => b => c => d => housekeep
+
+            # start the next cycle as soon as the previous cycle has finished
+            # OR and task in the previous cycle has expired
+            housekeep[-P1D]
+                | start[-P1D]:expire?
+                | a[-P1D]:expired?
+                | b[-P1D]:expired?
+                | c[-P1D]:expired?
+                | d[-P1D]:expired?
+                | housekeep[-P1D]:expired?
+            => start
+        """
+
+[runtime]
+    [[root]]
+        script = sleep 12