HOLIDAYMAKERS should be able to travel to 12 countries without having to quarantine, it has been revealed.

The Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, announced the highly-anticipated green list for when international travel resumes from England on May 17.

In a Downing Street briefing today, some of the destinations to score a place on the list were Portugal, including the Azores and Madeira, Israel and Gibraltar.

The other countries that have been placed on the green list are:

  • Australia
  • Singapore
  • New Zealand
  • Iceland
  • Brunei
  • Faroe Islands
  • Falkland Islands

However, some countries that were tipped to be in the green band, such as Malta and Barbados, were not included.

Under the green list rules, travellers won't have to quarantine or self-isolate when they return to the UK.

But, they must have a pre-departure test and a PCR test on or before day two of their return.

Mr Shapps said the removal of international travel restrictions on May 17 was “necessarily cautious”.

He stressed the Government must “make absolutely sure” the countries the UK reconnects with are safe.

He said: “We in this country have managed to construct a fortress against Covid. But the disease is still prevalent in other parts of the world, most notably at the moment in India.

“In fact, more new cases of Covid have been diagnosed around the world in the last seven days than at any time since the pandemic began.”

He added: “That’s why today’s announcement, removing the stay in the UK restrictions from May 17, is necessarily cautious.

“We must make absolutely sure that the countries we reconnect with are safe, that their infection rates are low and their vaccination rates are high.

“It means making sure we are not incubating the most dangerous variants that they’re not and that they have safe and secure surveillance in place.”

The Transport Secretary also announced Turkey, the Maldives and Nepal would be added to the red list.