The latest traffic light reshuffle on 14 July added Bulgaria and Hong Kong to the green list.
It also added Croatia and Taiwan to the “green watchlist”, which signals which destinations could soon move from green to amber.
Elsewhere, the Balearic Islands (including Formentera, Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca) and the British Virgin Islands have been relegated to amber.
All changes will take effect from 4am on Monday 19 July
The list is designed to give travellers more certainty.
Where did the idea come from?
Holidays abroad were given the go ahead from the UK from 17 May, under a traffic light system that classifies each country or region as red, amber or green. This is dependent on coronavirus infection rates, the presence of any “variants of concern” and the progress of the vaccination programme.
As well as the traffic light system, there is also a “green watchlist”.
Which destinations are on the green list?
There are currently 29 destinations rated green, but only 13 of them are deemed safe enough to be on the green list, rather than the green watchlist:
- Australia
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Gibraltar
- Hong Kong
- Iceland
- Malta
- New Zealand
- Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
- Singapore
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Travellers returning to the UK from these countries don’t need to quarantine. However, they must provide a negative test result – be it rapid antigen, lateral flow or PCR – before departing for the UK, and take a PCR test within two days of arrival.
What is the green watchlist?
The green watchlist is an additional measure that the government uses as a way of identifying the countries most at risk of moving from green to amber.
Countries on the watchlist are kept under review and the Department for Transport says it will “respond to emerging evidence, with a particular focus on variants of concern”.
From 4am on Monday 19 July, there will be 16 territories on the green watchlist:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- British Antarctic Territory
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Cayman Islands
- Croatia
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Israel and Jerusalem
- Madeira
- Montserrat
- Pitcairn Islands
- Taiwan
- Turks and Caicos Islands
Why is it needed?
The green watchlist system aims to avoid abrupt changes which last year resulted in travellers rushing back to the UK as quarantine was imposed on countries and regions with little notice. The government says the system is being implemented to “give passengers more certainty” and to “provide greater assurance for those who wish to travel abroad”.
However, the report states that “the government will not hesitate to act immediately should the data show that countries risk ratings have changed”.
