BORIS Johnson is set to announce which countries will be on the "green list" from May 17, and is expected to reveal where Brits can go on holiday later this week.
Only countries on the green list will be restriction-free – amber and red list countries will still require Brits to quarantine when returning to the UK.
Destinations likely to be on the green list, due to low Covid cases and strong vaccine rollout, are Malta, Gibraltar, Iceland and Israel.
Portugal is on the “cusp” of being put on to Britain’s green list, but not definite – a No10 insider said the country would go green “soonish” even if it missed out later this week.
However, France is very unlikely to make the green list this month as the country remains in lockdown, although restrictions on schools and short-distanced travel has been lifted.
Last month, France reported nearly 61,000 new daily cases, while the vaccine rollout is at just 23 per cent of the population given the first jab, compared to the UK's 51 per cent.
Travellers from amber list countries will have to quarantine at home for 10 days on arrival and take three tests – one before arrival and two after.
Popular destinations including Spain, Greece and France are pencilled in by Downing Street to be added to the green list by the end of June, reports the Telegraph.
However, this depends on the vaccine rollout and the Covid situation in France, as well as the threat of Covid variants in the country.
The country has already said it hopes to welcome vaccinated tourists from June, including from the UK.
Other destinations have already said they want Brits back – both Spain and Cyprus will welcome vaccinated Brits from June, while Portugal will restart tourism from mid-May.
Greece is already welcoming vaccinated Brits, and will allow tourists to use their NHS vaccine cards as proof.
Despite Spain and Greece also likely to remain off the list, the Foreign Office today removed its travel warnings for some Greek and Spanish islands – suggesting they could soon be welcoming back British tourists before the mainland.
Greek islands Corfu, Crete, Kos, Rhodes and Zante, along with the Canary Islands in Spain, have all have their travel advice changed on the Foreign Office website.
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