THE UK'S travel rules are set for a huge shake-up today as half-term looms with sun-starved Brits hoping to jet off abroad during the break.
Expensive PCR testing has been ditched and the government has decided to pull the plug on the traffic light system too.
There are, however, still be some rules in place. Here's everything you need to know..
NO GO LIST
From today, ministers have simplified the messy traffic light system to a simple Go/No Go list.
It will see the current amber and green lists merge into one "rest of the world" Covid safe list.
Out of the 62 countries on the red list, eight have been taken off, with a view to keep stripping more places over the coming weeks.
Turkey, Egypt, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kenya have already been struck off the red list.
Egypt and Turkey have seen booming demand from Brits who have been unable to visit for months, with deals from £343 for an all-inclusive break.
But more than 50 countries remain on the list – including Thailand, Costa Ric and the Philippines.
It means fully-vaxxed holidaymakers will finally be able to holiday in these places without forking out thousands for hotel quarantine.
The rules came into force at 4am today.
NEW TESTING RULES
New rules will also be put in place for vaccinated travellers from tomorrow.
Pre-arrival testing – which had to be a lateral flow or PCR test taken before returning to the UK – will no longer be required.
Instead, holidaymakers will just need a day two Covid test, PCR only.
The day two PCR test requirement will be scrapped later in October, with jetsetters able instead to have a lateral flow test.
It is hoped this will be enforced in term for the October half-term, but the government is yet to confirm a date.
However, while the move was initially praised as it was hope it would make holiday tests much cheaper, experts have warned the lateral flows could cost the same as the pricey PCRs.
Here are some of the cheapest places to buy a PCR test for your holiday, as the free NHS tests are not allowed.
And we've also rounded up the tour operators and companies selling lateral flow tests, from just £20.
ACROSS THE POND
Brits will be delighted to hear that holidays to the US are due to be given the green light within weeks.
Double jabbed visitors from the UK and EU have the thumbs up to enter the US from November.
But all foreign travellers will be required to show proof of their vaccination before boarding the plane.
Travellers will also need to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test – which has to be taken within three days of flight.
According to White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients, passengers who are fully vaccinated will not be required to quarantine.
The UK has been on the US travel ban list since March 2020.
Exemptions have been made solely for US citizens and permanent residents, as well as certain close family members and other limited categories of visa holders like diplomats and UN staff.
The US is a hugely popular holiday destination for tourists from the UK, and prior to the pandemic, more than five million Brits visited the US every year.
'UNEXPECTED CHALLENGES'
Last month, Downing Street warned that the freedoms could be snatched back if a mutant variant threatens the Covid road to recovery.
An official spokesperson for Boris Johnson said: "We are aware that the pandemic is still ongoing and there is always a chance of unexpected challenges such as an even more transmissible or more deadly variant emerging.
"That said, because of the success of our vaccine programme, it is enabling us to move steadily and remove restrictions as we saw as we came out of Step 4.
He added "while we have seen the slow easing of restrictions on travel" it would be "wrong to rule anything out in the future".
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