People will be able to go on holiday “without looking over their shoulders the whole time”, Grant Shapps has said, as he promised that the next set of travel changes will not come “for another three weeks”.
The transport secretary told Kay Burley on Sky News that while ministers must “always keep an eye on the virus” the movement of countries including France, India and the UAE back to the amber list and Germany, Austria and Slovenia to the green list is “really good news” for Britons.
On Wednesday evening, the government announced that fully vaccinated travellers and under 18s arriving in England from France will no longer need to isolate, while India is coming off the red list.
Holiday hotspot Spain – where it is thought up to a million Britons are currently on holiday – is staying on the amber list, despite worries that it could have been added to red.
Travellers arriving back from Spain are being urged to take a PCR test before flying home “as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country”.
The latest travel changes will take effect from 4am on Sunday.
Mr Shapps said the changes will allow “more travel during the summer”.