Which countries are on the amber list?

All the latest updates to the traffic light lists

The USA remains on the amber list (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Foreign holidays became legal again in Britain on 17 May, with countries assigned a colour of red, amber or green and given restrictions to match under a traffic light system.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announced the destinations that would be initially designated green and red in early May, with the rest of the world falling into the “amber” category.

Since then, there have been five “reviews” to the lists: one on 3 June, one on 24 June, one on 14 July and the latest ones on 4 and 26 August.

In the most recent reshuffle, Canada and Switzerland were two of seven countries added to the list of green destinations, while Thailand and Montenegro were downgraded from amber to red.

No destinations were booted down from green to amber.

The 43 “green list” countries have the lightest restrictions on entry back into the UK, with no quarantine imposed and travellers merely required to take one PCR test within two days of arrival.

“Amber list” countries – which include the US and most of Europe – require unvaccinated adult arrivals to self-isolate at home for 10 days and pay for two PCR tests, one on day two and one on day eight.

All travellers must show proof of a negative Covid test – PCR, rapid antigen or lateral flow – before departure to the UK.

However, fully vaccinated British adults and double jabbed travellers from the US and EU (who’ve had their second dose at least 14 days prior), plus those aged under 18, don’t have to quarantine when returning from an amber list country. The restrictions for these travellers are the same as those for green list arrivals to the UK: a pre-departure lateral flow test, plus the gold standard day two PCR test.

Popular holiday destinations in the amber category include Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Greece.

Here are the countries that are currently amber (this list is not exhaustive; if your destination is not on the green or red list, it should be classified as amber):

Amber list

• Akrotiri and Dhekelia
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Armenia
• Aruba
• Azerbaijan
• The Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Balearic Islands (Formentera, Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca)
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Belize
• Benin
• Bhutan
• Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• British Virgin Islands
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• China
• Comoros
• Cook Islands
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Croatia
• Curaçao
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Djibouti
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea
• Estonia
• Fiji
• France
• French Polynesia
• Gabon
• The Gambia
• Ghana
• Greece (including islands)
• Greenland
• Guadeloupe
• Guatemala
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Honduras
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• India
• Iran
• Iraq
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kiribati
• Kosovo
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Liberia
• Libya
• Luxembourg
• Macao
• Madagascar
• Malaysia
• Mali
• Marshall Islands
• Martinique
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Micronesia
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Morocco
• Nauru
• Netherlands
• New Caledonia
• Nicaragua
• Niger
• Nigeria
• North Korea
• North Macedonia
• The Occupied Palestinian Territories
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Russia
• Samoa
• San Marino
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Solomon Islands
• South Korea
• South Sudan
• Spain (including the Balearics and Canary Islands)
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Martin and St Barthélemy
• St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Sweden
• Syria
• Taiwan
• Tajikistan
• Timor-Leste
• Togo
• Tonga
• Turkmenistan
• Tuvalu
• UAE
• Ukraine
• United States (USA)
• Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu
• Vietnam
• Wallis and Futuna
• Western Sahara