Germany moves to green list and India is off the red list in latest travel traffic light update

In the latest travel traffic light update, Germany and Austria are among the seven countries that have been added to the green list, but anybody arriving into the UK from Mexico, Georgia, La Reunion or Mayotte will now face hotel quarantine, as the destinations are added to the red list.

The price of enforced hotel isolation will also increase significantly when the rule changes come into force on Saturday at 4am.

A place for a solo traveller is now set to cost £2,285, up more than £500 from its previous £1,750 price tag, and an extra adult in a room will now cost £1,430 up from £650.

This means that the price of two people sharing a room will now cost £3,715, up from £2,400 and is to “better reflect the increased costs involved”, according to the Government.

In total, seven countries have been added to the green list with Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway also moving to the quarantine-free tier.

As expected, the change of rules will put France back on to the amber list, and means that no countries are now classed as ‘amber plus’ which forced all arrivals including those who are double-jabbed into isolation at home.

India will also join France on the amber list having been removed from the red list alongside Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates

There were fears in the travel industry that Spain – the most popular overseas destination for UK holidaymakers – could be added to the red list.

The Government announced it would keep its amber status, but urged travellers arriving in the UK from Spain to take a PCR test for the mandatory pre-departure test and warned UK scientists “remain in close contact with their counterparts in Spain to keep abreast of the latest data and picture of cases”.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We are committed to opening up international travel safely, taking advantage of the gains we’ve made through our successful vaccination programme, helping connect families, friends and businesses around the world.

“While we must continue to be cautious, today’s changes reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public.”