When is the next travel update? Expected time of green, amber and red list countries UK review - and what happened at the last update
The last review of the UK travel traffic light system saw Austria, Germany and Norway added to the green list among other international destinations, while France’s ‘amber plus’ category was scrapped.
travel update is fast approaching, after several new countries including Austria and Germany were added to the green list at the last review.
The latest UK Government announcement also saw Mexico, Georgia and two other locations moved to the red list, while France was removed from the "amber plus” category requiring travellers to quarantine on return from the country regardless of vaccination status.
Rules surrounding international travel have fluctuated since the four nations’ traffic light system was first introduced due to the ever-changing nature of the pandemic.
The travel traffic light system is being reviewed on a four nations basis every three weeks, with initial announcements being made by the UK Government and then confirmed by the Scottish Government.
The last review and announcement of changes to the UK’s red, amber and green list destinations was on Wednesday 4 August, with the changes coming into effect from 4am on Sunday 8 August.
That means the next travel update is scheduled to take place today on Thursday 26 August.
For an update taking place on Thursday 26 August, we can expect any changes to come to effect from 4am on Sunday 29 August
The regular reviews allow the government to constantly evaluate the Covid risk for different countries, including the emergence of new variants of concern, like the Delta variant first identified in India.
Any amendments to the lists will be informed by public health advice, including the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s assessment of the latest data.
What time is the UK travel announcement?
The previous travel announcement took place at around 10pm on Wednesday 4 August, with the outcome of travel reviews typically being announced on Wednesdays at around 6pm or 10pm.
But with the latest travel update expected today (Thursday 26 August), many hope to see the announcement return to a more conventional time of 5pm this evening.
What happened at the last travel update?
The UK Government confirmed that seven countries would move from the amber list to the green list, after deeming them a low risk to public health.
These destinations were Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway.
However, Poland, which has a very low infection rate, did not turn green at the last review so many prospective travellers will be hoping for this change at the next announcement.
Meanwhile, Spain avoided being added to the red list, which means fully vaccinated travellers can still travel there without the need to quarantine on return thanks to its amber status.
But Turkey was kept red due to the rise in cases over recent weeks.
Georgia, Mexico, Réunion and Mayotte all moved from the amber to the red list, where hotel quarantine is mandatory on arrival in the UK.
Bahrain, India, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UEA) all moved the other way, from the red list to the amber list.
In welcome news for holidaymakers, France's “amber plus” restrictions have also ended and the category has been scrapped.
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