Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel are among the 12 countries and territories people in England can visit from May 17 without self-isolating on their return.

Grant Shapps led a Downing Street press conference on Friday afternoon when he said we’ve made "huge progress" this year but we're not at the end.

Mr Shapps said the removal of international travel restrictions on May 17 was “necessarily cautious”, adding: “We must make sure the countries we reconnect with are safe.”

The Transport Secretary unveiled the green list for international travel which could be given the green light from May 17 under Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown.

Shapps announced which destinations will fall into which band as nations are ranked into three colour coded categories.

Quarantine and coronavirus testing requirements for people arriving in England once foreign holidays are permitted from May 17 will be based on a new traffic light system, with destinations placed on green, amber and red lists.

People arriving from a green location will not need to quarantine on their return and will have to take one post-arrival test.

Those returning from an amber list country must self-isolate for at least five days and take two tests.

The red list requires an 11-night stay in a quarantine hotel at a cost of £1,750 for solo travellers.

Assessments will be based on a range of factors, including the proportion of a country’s population that has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants, and the country’s access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.

People in England can visit Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel from May 17 without self-isolating on their return, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced.

They are the only popular summer short-haul destinations out of 12 countries and territories on the Government’s new green list for travel.

Meanwhile Turkey, the Maldives and Nepal have been added to the red list.

People returning from those countries after 4am on Wednesday will be required to stay in a quarantine hotel for 11 nights at a cost of £1,750 for solo travellers.

The DfT also announced that from May 17, people who have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine will be able to use the NHS app to demonstrate their status.

People who do not have the app will be able to request an NHS letter from that date.

Here is the green list in full:

People returning from these countries will need to take a Covid test on their return but will face no quarantine.

  • Portugal including the Azores and Madeira
  •  Australia
  • New Zealand 
  • Singapore
  • Brunei 
  • Iceland
  • Faroe Islands
  • Gibraltar 
  • Falkland Islands
  • Israel