Travel restrictions eased for most EU countries

Those in England eager for a holiday will be able to visit Spain, Italy, France and Germany without needing to quarantine for two weeks on their return from the 10th of July.

According to the Department for Transport, this is set to cover the majority of international travel including sea or rail as well as flights.

There are also changes being made to the UK's blanket ban against non-essential foreign travel from Saturday, according to the Foreign Office.

Sixty other countries have also had some of their travel restrictions lifted, and they will be identified in a report due to be released later today.

The list is expected to include the majority of EU countries.

Greece was set to be one of the countries that the UK government wanted to create an "air-bridge" with, but it was announced that Greece was banning all flights from the UK until the 15th of July. This came from concerns over the UK's rate of COVID-19 cases. It is unclear whether Greece will be part of the list that will be revealed at lunchtime.

Downing Street is encouraging the public to still check the latest travel advice from the foreign office, and whether travel restrictions are in place in the countries, they are travelling to and from.

Furthermore, the new travel exemptions do not apply to those that have been in or transited through non-exempt countries in the last 14 days.

This approach is an England-only exemption as tensions with Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister, has suggested that the two governments have not been able to agree. Welsh and Northern Irish legislative bodies are set to deliver their own travel rules and acceptions at a later date.

Despite the easing of travel restrictions, almost all passengers will need to provide contact information when they come back to the UK. Moreover, these rules that apply to England alone will need clarification for those travelling to England from the other UK nations. While they may not need to self isolate upon arriving in England, restrictions may still apply to their home countries upon their return.

The list has been composed through risk assessments on the prevalence of COVID-19 in the selected countries, which was conducted by the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England. The final list will be organised with a traffic-light system, in relation to the presence of COVID-19 within the relevant nation.

According to Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, all countries that are indicated with amber light, are nations that do not require arrivals to quarantine when they land. Those within the red list such as the United States would still have travel restrictions in place.

This announcement comes as the government has been under pressure to relax travel restrictions as the industry has been faced with many closures and job losses because of COVID-19.