Seven more countries have been added to the UK government’s green travel list.
From 4am on Sunday, anyone returning from Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway will no longer need to quarantine on arrival.
There are now 36 countries on the green list – but 16 of them, including Caribbean islands, Croatia, Malta, Israel and Taiwan are on the “green watchlist”, meaning they could be suddenly be moved to amber.
Australia and New Zealand are both green – but neither are currently welcoming British travellers.
France has also lost its confusing “amber plus” status, which had meant that all travellers and not just those who are not fully vaccinated had to self-isolate for 10 days upon return. It was the only country in that category.
India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been downgraded from the red to the amber list, meaning arrivals will no longer have to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel.
Mexico, Georgia and the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte are joining the red list.
The government has also hiked the price of hotel quarantine required on return from a red list country. It will be increased from £1,750 to £2,285 from 12 August. The charge for an adult sharing a room will increase from £650 to £1,430.
Despite prior speculation, Spain will remain on the amber list, enabling travellers who are fully vaccinated to continue to enjoy a quarantine-free return. There were fears in the travel industry that Spain could be added to the red list.
PM Boris Johnson said earlier this week that he wanted to keep a “simple”, “user-friendly” system for foreign travel.
Plans for an “amber watchlist” have been dropped along with the “amber plus” category, but the “green watchlist” still remains.
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