The Government has updated its traffic-light system to include some British summer holiday favourites, including Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca and Madeira.
The change will be a welcome one after the last update to the traffic light system, on June 8, which saw Portugal moved to the amber list after many people had already booked holidays there.
This meant the list’s only popular European destination typically visited by Brits over the summer was dropped from the list.
It also meant travel was only really viable to two places – Gibraltar and Iceland – because the other nations have their own travel restrictions against the UK.
But now, people in England will be able to visit some of the more common tourist hotspots, around 20 destinations were moved from the amber to green list on Thursday night.
The Government determines its traffic-light system by looking at how much of the country’s population is vaccinated, the rate of infection, the prevalence of variants of concern and the nation’s access to reliable scientific data.
Whatever your vaccination status you can come home from the following destinations without having to quarantine: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera), Barbados, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Madeira, Malta, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands.
Full list of green list countries:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- The Balearic Islands
- Barbados,
- Bermuda
- British Antarctic Territory
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- British Virgin Islands
- Brunei
- Cayman Islands
- Dominica
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Gibraltar
- Grenada
- Iceland
- Israel and Jerusalem (moved to the green-watch list)
- Madeira
- Malta
- Montserrat
- New Zealand
- Pitcairn Islands
- Singapore
- South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
- St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
- Turks and Caicos Islands
Although no previously green list countries have been demoted to the amber list, Israel and Jerusalem have been moved to the green watch list – for the countries most at risk of being put onto the amber list.
But the following six countries have been bumped down to the red list: the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Haiti, Mongolia, Tunisia, Uganda.
All these changes come into effect at 4am on Wednesday, June 30.
If you go to green list places you have to test negative within 72 hours of leaving for England and then you have to take a PCR test on or before the second day of arriving into the country.
It is also really important to check the coronavirus rules in each country as their restrictions may differ and you may need to quarantine upon arrival.
Some countries on the green list, including Australia and New Zealand, still have their borders closed to tourists.
If you come to England from an amber list country, you have to take a test before travelling, book and pay in advance for tests to be taken on day two and eight after your arrival, complete a passenger locator form and self-isolate for 10 days.
But travel is opening up in a different way for people with both doses of their vaccine – which is now more than 60% of the population.
The government is planning to allow double jabbed people not to isolate when they return to England from amber list countries.
Further details will be set out next month.
Only UK nationals can come home from red list nations and they you have to take a coronavirus test, book and pay for a quarantine hotel package and complete a passenger locator form.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘We’re moving forward with efforts to safely reopen international travel this summer, and thanks to the success of our vaccination programme, we’re now able to consider removing the quarantine period for fully vaccinated UK arrivals from amber countries – showing a real sign of progress.
‘It’s right that we continue with this cautious approach, to protect public health and the vaccine rollout as our top priority, while ensuring that our route out of the international travel restrictions is sustainable.’
Full list of amber list countries:
- Akrotiri and Dhekelia
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Aruba
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- The Bahamas
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Congo
- Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Curaçao
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic (Czechia)
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- French Polynesia
- Gabon
- The Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece (including islands)
- Greenland
- Guadeloupe
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macao
- Madagascar
- Malaysia
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Martinique
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mayotte
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Nauru
- Netherlands
- New Caledonia
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- The Occupied Palestinian Territories
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Poland
- Portugal (including the Azores and excluding Madeira)
- Réunion
- Romania
- Russia
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain (including the Canary Islands and excluding the Balearic Islands)
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Maarten
- St Martin and St Barthélemy
- St Pierre and Miquelon
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Ukraine
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Wallis and Futuna
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
Full list of red list countries:
- Dominican Republic
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Kuwait
- Mongolia
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- India
- South Africa
- DR Congo
- Tanzania
- Zimbabwe
- Botswana
- Eswatini
- Zambia
- Malawi
- Namibia
- Lesotho
- Mozambique
- Angola
- Rwanda
- Burundi
- Somalia
- Ethiopia
- United Arab Emirates (including Dubai)
- Oman
- Seychelles
- Qatar
- Panama
- Cape Verde
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- French Guiana
- Guyana
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Suriname
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- The Philippines
- Pakistan
- Kenya
- Bangladesh
- Nepal
- Maldives
- Turkey
- Afghanistan
- Bahrain
- Costa Rica
- Egypt
- Sudan
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Sri Lanka
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