George Eustice warns to avoid going abroad after Portugal was put on the amber list

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Environment Secretary George Eustice appeared to dash hopes for overseas trips this summer as he told Britons not to take holidays abroad, after thousands of British travellers frantically scrambled back from Portugal yesterday to avoid having to quarantine for 10 days. 

The Cabinet minister told Sky News this morning he had ‘no intention’ of leaving the country this summer and urged people tired of lockdown to take holidays in places such as Cornwall.

Downing Street abruptly downgraded Portugal from green to amber on its travel list amid concern over the so-called Nepal variant – even though just one case of the strain was found in Portugal when the policy was announced last week, while 43 cases were identified in the UK.

The decision effectively destroyed the holiday plans of millions of people and sparked travel chaos in Faro and Lisbon, forcing thousands of families already at the summer sun destination to cut their breaks short and pay huge sums of money extra to buy Covid-19 tests and flights back.  

Passengers landing at Heathrow, Birmingham, Gatwick and Manchester before 4am today said they felt ‘ashamed to be British’, called the four-days’ notice given ‘ridiculous’ and described No10’s treatment of the hard-hit Portuguese tourism sector as ‘shambolic’ and ‘disgraceful’. 

Those who missed the 4am deadline this morning will now have to quarantine at home, with holidaymaker Kathy Kirby, 64, from Battersea in south-west London, among those questioning why people need to self-isolate for 10 days if they have already been vaccinated.

Mr Eustice said: ‘Our advice has been don’t travel unless it’s absolutely necessary. Obviously we had hoped, with these three categories that we had, we had hoped that situation would be improving in other parts of the world, that we’d be able to progressively add other countries to the green list.

‘Sadly, that’s not the situation, we do have this new variant of concern first identified in India that is now cropping up in other countries, and we’ve just got to take a very cautious approach. 

‘I will be staying at home, I have no intention of travelling or going on a holiday abroad this summer. We’ve got some fabulous places to visit in this part of the country, not least of course Cornwall, where there will be a very very busy summer I’m sure.  

‘My advice to people would be holiday at home, we’ve got some great places here.’

Yesterday thousands of Britons flew back from the Algarve, the Portuguese capital and the island of Madeira to beat the 4am deadline today. The last commercial flight back appeared to be a WizzAir plane from Faro to Doncaster Sheffield Airport – which landed at 3am. 

From today, UK travellers arriving from Portugal must have proof of a negative PCR test taken no more than three days before their journey or face a £500 fine. They are also required to book and pay for two tests pre-departure and take both tests on day 2 and day 8 of their 10-day quarantine. 

But at Gatwick this morning, Mrs Kirby revealed she spent £589 trying and failing to rebook her flight from Faro for yesterday ‘multiple times’ after deciding to cut her five-day holiday in Portugal short. 

She said: ‘I’m not very happy because I made attempts to get back before the deadline for quarantine but unfortunately it didn’t work. I was very disappointed, I was only going on a five-day break anyway but it was cut back to three days, unfortunately I’ve ended up spending more money to get back.

‘It caused me a lot of inconvenience, so clearly I’m not terribly happy about this situation especially as I’ve had both vaccinations. I wouldn’t have thought I would have to go through ten days of quarantine, what’s the point of having vaccinations if we end up having to quarantine?’ 

Breaking quarantine could lead to a £10,000 fine while those who do not take tests on day 2 and day 8 of their self-isolation facing £2,000 penalties. And those who provide incorrect information on their passenger locator forms could be fined £10,000 or be jailed for 10 years – or both.  

Travel industry chiefs have reacted with fury, warning that the decision risks a jobs bloodbath and wrecking an already devastated sector. They are now calling for increased financial support and a ‘recognition’ of the vaccine roll-out at the next review date for global travel, due by June 28.

In other coronavirus developments:

• Cabinet ministers are said to be discussing extending lockdown beyond June 21 by as much as a month; 
• Cases rose by 68 per cent with 5,683 positive tests, with the Indian variant dominant in 200 areas of England;
• Over-25s will be invited to book their coronavirus vaccine appointment from tomorrow morning;
• Tony Blair said vaccinated Britons should be given freedom to travel abroad in a bid to boost the jabs take-up; 
• Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said there were ‘strong suggestions’ that Covid-19 leaked from a laboratory in China;
• People looking for love online will be able to see if their potential match has been vaccinated in a government bid to increase uptake of the vaccine;
• Jab-maker Moderna is applying for permission for its vaccine to be used on 12 to 17-year-olds in Europe.

Holidaymakers revealed they have been forced to spend thousands of pounds extra to buy PCR tests – at £125 each – and last flights as plane ticket prices rose markedly. A seat on one Ryanair flight from Faro to Bournemouth was available for £285, nearly 17 times the £17 cost of a similar flight on Wednesday. A seat on one easyJet flight was going for £227, compared with one today for £53. 

Bob Wallis from Rutland, who enjoyed a two-week holiday with his wife Christine, said at Birmingham Airport last night: ‘I think the way the Government has treated Portugal and the islands is shambolic and disgraceful. 

‘I felt ashamed to be British out there at one point because all these guys are depending on British tourism and they were shocked that this happened. You feel really sorry for them.’

Portuguese media have reported that hospitality businesses in popular tourist destinations have cancelled plans to make new hires following the UK decision, with premier Antonio Costa now accusing Downing Street of causing ‘serious damage’ to his economy amid a major diplomatic row. 

Mr Wallis continued: ‘We were lucky. People arrived a day after us and they can’t get back. There were families with three kids, they should have been given a lot more notice, four days was ridiculous.’

He and his wife said they ‘just managed’ to squeeze in their fortnight trip within the three weeks Portugal was on the UK’s green list. The rules meant the airport in Portugal was ‘chaotic’, with struggles to fill in forms and delays as other passengers booked onto the flight.

‘Other people had checked onto our flight, it was nearly an hour late. We thought we had everything done, but we were still directed back from the check in desks,’ Mr Wallis said. And the couple said they now need another holiday as the break was ‘ruined’ by the stress of the ‘stupid lists’.

He continued: ‘We enjoyed the holiday but you feel you need another holiday having got back, after going through this. It just ruins it. We’re not going abroad again while all these stupid lists exist. Usually we go away every six weeks. It’ll be back to Cornwall I think.’

Jacqueline Leonard, from Stechford, returned on the same flight following her break in Madeira.

She agreed: ‘Them putting it onto an amber, I think, is atrocious. They [Portugal] are trying to establish themselves and get things up and running again but they’re being forced to stop again, everyone else can go, but the English can’t go.

‘It’s a shame really, it’s a lovely island and such a lot to do there, people are going to miss out. It’s really safe, everything is top notch.’

‘It’s unfair really. People who have gone out on green should be allowed to come back on green. As long as all the tests are negative I can’t see what the problem is.

‘We’ve got some friends coming back Friday. They’re still there and they’re going to have to do an extra test which they’re not happy about.’

Andrew and Lyn Ball, from Nottingham, said the airport in Portugal was ‘horrendous’.

‘It was horrendous in the airport, so many people were struggling with the passenger locator forms, the technology is difficult to follow,’ Lyn said.

Despite the difficulties coming home, Mrs Ball said the holiday abroad felt Covid safe, with hospitality staff taking temperatures and hand sanitiser stations ‘everywhere’.

‘We just relaxed mainly,’ she said. It was extremely safe, we felt very safe. Everywhere there was gel, when we went in restaurants, they took your temperature.

‘We’ve got another holiday booked for the end of October to the Canary Islands, but that will depend on the situation with the Government.’ 

Ministers has downgraded Portugal on its travel list, citing fears over the so-called Nepal variant – even though just one case of the strain was detected in Portugal when the decision was announced. 

Yet ministers made the decision after official data showed that just 1.5 per cent of UK travellers tested positive over two weeks in a sample – just three positive cases spotted out of 200 people coming from Portugal in mid-May.  

The travel industry erupted in fury, saying it was proof of the very low risk posed by people arriving from Portugal and that the country should have stayed green.

The Government’s sudden decision to downgrade Portugal to amber instantly wiped £2billion off the value of airlines, while travel industry chiefs warned that it risked creating a jobs bloodbath and wrecking the already devastated sector. 

Figures compiled by the all-party Future of Aviation group of MPs projected that the cost to the economy could be as much as £11.5billion in outbound travel alone if the current restrictions remain through the next three months. 

British Airways owner IAG, easyJet, Ryanair, TUI, Wizz Air and engine maker Rolls-Royce all suffered heavy falls as news spread that no countries would be added to the green list. And package holiday giant Jet2 cancelled all foreign holidays until July 1 – three days after the next review of the green list is due.   

Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee, Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta – The Travel Association, said support for the travel sector has not been ‘adequate’ and said the vaccine roll-out must be recognised at the next review of the traffic light system, due by June 28. 

He told MPs: ‘Last week’s news regarding Portugal, one of the few countries on the green list, being placed on the amber list, was a real blow. It sent a signal to industry and customers that the Government is in pursuit of domestic health policy, which we support, and that international travel is not going to come back as envisaged.

‘The support measures that have been available have been appreciated but at the margin and not adequate for the scale of the challenge the travel industry has faced and is facing. The summer season counts for two-thirds, we are in it, and no-one is travelling.’

Mr Tanzer added: ‘We would like recognition of the vaccination programme by removing the need for people who have been vaccinated to test on returning to Britain and those who have not been vaccinated to take a lateral flow test.’

He pointed out: ‘The traffic light system when it was announced had the benefit of clarity. Then the government said ‘You should not be travelling to any amber destination. It’s extremely damaging to confidence to book and that is the most essential component at the moment.’

‘We would like the traffic light system put into practice. We need to get back to clarity so as an industry we can plan. We’d like to see more and more countries come into the green category and ultimately the testing requirement to go.’

At Heathrow Airport, Laura Fernandes, 45, a manager from Barnet, who went on holiday with her children and mother, said: ‘It’s been an absolute nightmare. I’ve had to pay for a second flight for five people so it cost £1,700. I also had to reschedule all our Covid tests which was also a nightmare. 

‘I went on holiday in Albufeira, in the south, because it was the only possibility. We were supposed to be coming back on Wednesday. But because it’s now been put on the amber list I had to change our flights. Because of quarantine, the kids would not have been able to go back to school. It’s a nightmare’.  

Alan and Lisa Pechey, from Cambridge, who were on holiday in Lisbon, said they paid £800 – £400 each – to book a flight to Gatwick Airport to avoid having to quarantine at home. The decision had ‘really spoiled’ their holiday and left them under ‘extreme distress’ and ‘pretty furious’. 

Mrs Pechey, 66, said: ‘It was really expensive and I think the Government was totally unfair to throw that at us on Thursday because it really spoiled our holiday, totally. We had flown out on Monday for a relaxing break, but from Thursday onwards we were under extreme stress.

‘My main problem was the stress, because we didn’t want to quarantine. I was pretty furious because they should have told us to watch out if we were going to Portugal so everyone would have known.’  

At Faro Airport, thousands of holidaymakers formed long queues and waited for up to four hours to get swabbed at a testing site in the airport car park. Other testing sites in the region which people could have used were experiencing backlogs caused by a surge in demand.

Green and amber list passengers who landed in Heathrow found that they were being forced to mix in queues while Border Force officials checked their Covid documentation and passports.

Paul Charles, chief executive of the PC Agency, told MailOnline: ‘Why is it safe for amber and green passengers to mix if amber is such a problem to ministers? It all points to the truth that government policy is a shambles and that they have made a complete mess of what should have been a very simple traffic light system.’

A Government spokesperson told MailOnline:’Our utmost priority is protecting the health of the public and our enhanced borders regime is helping reduce the risk of new variants being transmitted.

‘As we reopen international travel safely, we will maintain 100 per cent health checks at the border and the new dedicated terminal at Heathrow for arrivals from ‘red list’ countries will enable passengers to be processed as safely and as efficiently as possible, before being transferred to a managed quarantine facility.

‘People should not be travelling to amber list countries unless for unavoidable essential reasons, and it is down to airport operators to manage returning passengers, which we expect to be done in a Covid-secure way.’

Tourists wanting to beat the deadline are being hit by a combination of many flights being sold out, and the handful of available seats being sold at inflated prices. 

Even for passengers who had booked their flights before the deadline, it has been ‘really stressful.’

Ines Narraway, 37, from London, who spent a week in Portugal with her two children and husband, said: ‘We were okay because we were always meant to come back today. But it’s been really stressful because we’re Portuguese, so we have family there and we don’t know when we will be able to see them again.

‘And it’s not been clear when the rules were going to kick in and whether we would have to change our flights. The Government’s policy needs to be more consistent because this thing of 15 days on the green list and now we’re not, is just ridiculous.’

Others who did not have to change their flights say they got lucky, but don’t understand why Portugal has been shifted onto the amber list.

Alba Moran, 32, a vet from North Hampshire, said: ‘I was on holiday in Portugal for five nights, but was always planning on coming back today, so it hasn’t really affected me. My test was 100 per cent free and I could do it at the hotel where I was staying. 

‘I had to come back today, which was really lucky, so I wasn’t too worried about the rules changing. I didn’t see anything there to suggest Portugal should be on the amber list, but I guess they have to do it.’

Chris Hesford, 28, a lawyer from central London said: ‘We were there for 10 days, but we were always coming back today, so that’s lucky. The journey was absolutely fine, to be honest, and the airport wasn’t packed or anything like that.

‘I just feel sorry for Portugal because it seems really similar to here – they’re even stricter on wearing masks and things like that. I think we’re slightly sceptical of the Covid rules generally, and obviously we don’t have all the numbers, but it seemed fine out there.’

One woman said she paid £300 extra for a flight from Portugal to avoid quarantining at home for 10 days. Speaking at Gatwick Airport, Ana Pacheco, 28, from Islington, who was on holiday near Porto, said: ‘I was a little annoyed and upset but there’s nothing I can do because I really needed to go to Portugal.

‘I lost money on this trip, about £300 extra, because I was due to come back tomorrow evening, so it is quite annoying. I think there should have been extra time added on for us to get home, at least a week would have been better.’

Holidaymakers said their flight from Portugal was at ‘full capacity’ as people rushed home to avoid quarantining.

Marcus Gardner, 26, from Battersea in south London, who arrived at Gatwick Airport after a holiday in Porto, said: ‘We were pretty lucky, to be honest, because we were due to come back today anyway, but I would have been really annoyed if I had to tomorrow or something.

‘Our flight was much busier than before – going there only a few people were on the plane but coming back it was full capacity. A lot of people were rushing to get home and at the airport there were loads of people waiting for a flight.’

Jack Malan, 67, from Sevenoaks, Kent, who was returning from Portugal with his wife, said: ‘Our flight back was 95 per cent full, which wasn’t the case when we flew out there.

‘At the airport there was quite the queue with various checks and I must say it’s abysmal that the Government imposed this regulation so abruptly without warning, it’s very unfair.’

Lisa and Alan Pechey, who live near Cambridge, shelled out £400 each to cut their trip to Sintra short and landed at Gatwick from Porto at 12pm.

While Mr Pechey, 73, is a semi-retired psychology teacher at the Open University, Ms Pechey, 66, works at a private school Wednesday to Friday and could not quarantine if they came back as planned tonight.

She said: ‘We intended to have a week’s break but have had to cut it short. It’s cost £800 between us just to change the flights. Now we need to get the train up to Stansted to collect out car. 

‘We went out in good faith with the understanding that it was a green country. Then suddenly it was amber. It was a lot of stress and a lot of expense. And the relaxation was kind of spoilt to say the least.

‘To other holidaymakers, I would say only go if you’ve got the time to quarantine. A quick break between bits of work is impossible at the moment.’

Mr Pechey added: ‘There were big queues at Porto airport with people waiting hours for tests this morning. The only thing we’ve been fortunate with is the fact we did ours online.’

Project manager Juliana Esteves, 36, who lives in East London, paid £700 to return home with son Duarte, four, on the same flight. ‘I don’t understand why we were not given more than four days notice. People will need to get back to work, not quarantine. This makes it impossible for everyone,’ she said.

‘We were visiting family near Porto and planning to come back on Tuesday but had to change everything to get back before the 4am deadline. It cost £700 for me and my son and that was the cheapest one. There were very few options.

‘It is not ideal at all. Surely they can get some extension for the people who are already in Portugal to allow people to get back home. Give us at least a week, please.’

Flooring company worker Lopes Manuel, 49, paid £500 to rearrange his flight home to Chingford, East London from Tuesday to yesterday. He said: ‘They should have given two or three weeks notice. I was meant to fly tomorrow but had to spend £500 to get back without quarantine as I have a business to run here.

‘Just to change the flight for one day. It is way too much money. What difference will 4am on Tuesday make? There is nothing wrong with Portugal. Its all about the money. Its so stupid.’

Triwool fashion company boss Jose Barros, 48, and employee Margarida Amaral, 52, were fortunate their pre-booked flight for a business trip in Central London was planned yesterday. They will fly back home to Porto today.

Ms Amaral said: ‘Obviously I am not happy about it. We are so lucky that we intended to come today and not tomorrow. We now have to wait another three weeks to see if Portugal is put back on the green list.

‘It is terrible for our country and its tourism. This is a decision made by the UK government and we don’t know why they’ve made it. People on holiday need more notice.’

Mr Barros said: ‘The amber list does not impact this trip fortunately but it means we are unable to meet clients in London in the near future. We simply cannot quarantine back in Porto as we have a business to run.

‘This is our first trip in a year and a half and we usually come every two or three weeks. It looked like we were getting back to normal but maybe not so much now.’

Chevonne Hartshorne, 34, had been visiting her younger sister in Portugal with charity worker husband Jesse, also 34, with their one-year-old son Finley.

The market research worker from Beckenham, Kent, who had planned to come back from Aveiro today, said: ‘When they announced it was on the green list, we booked flights as quickly as possible and happened to very luckily pick to fly back today.

‘It would have been a nightmare quarantining with childcare. I feel so sorry for everyone stuck out there who won’t get home in time but also the people who had been playing to go out there.

‘I would say to anyone wanting to go away this summer, book as soon as it goes on the green list and go as soon as you can. Because things can change so quickly as we’ve seen here.

‘And also check all of your documents. We thought we had done everything including the tests but we had still missed one form which left us running for the plane in the morning. It’s just so complicated and unclear. For me it was worth it for Finley to see my sister but if it wasn’t for the family trip, I would say it is not worth the hassle.’

DPD delivery driver Daniel Rocha, 34, also counted himself lucky to get home to Crawley, West Sussex without needing to isolate. He had pre-booked to fly to Gatwick today with girlfriend Premier Inn worker Luciana Beaixoto, 29, and son Diego, four.

Mr Rocha said: ‘We were slightly worried about the traffic light system but didn’t let it ruin our trip. I cannot complain as I was lucky. But for the other people in Portugal hoping to come back to England, it is very difficult.

‘I called Luciana and told her to check the news cause they were saying Portugal had gone amber. We were lucky they will bring it in on Tuesday as we would have been stuck if they had done it last night.’

Max Gajadharsingh, 21, from Wiltshire, who runs a drinks company and was spending a week in Portugal on holiday said: ‘I was meant to come back tomorrow, but I heard it was getting bumped up to amber and so had to book a new flight.

‘I had booked with Tap Air Portugal, which have terrible customer service so I just booked a new one with BA.

‘I was lucky because I managed to use my 8,000 avios points and then paid an extra £72.50, but it could have been lot steeper. I had to change my covid test, which was booked for tomorrow morning.

‘I went to Lisbon airport on Saturday morning, but it was fully booked so ended up doing it yesterday morning. After the news Portugal was going on the amber list I went on the BA website to book a new flight.

‘At 1:30pm a BA economy basic ticket was €170, then when I looked at 3:00pm it was €342, an hour later it was €440 and then by 5:20pm it was €542 – then it sold out. I think putting Portugal on the amber list is stupid because when you are there, you have to wear masks even outside if it’s busy.

‘I don’t know what the cases are there, but it seemed fine, except you have a curfew at 10:30pm, so everyone pours out onto the street. Personally, I don’t really care, but it’s frustrating, especially for people who work in an office and have been looking forward to their holiday. I feel really bad for them.’

Taz Mukhtar, 34, from Paddington, West London, who works in financial services said: ‘I just flew in from Portugal where I was working remotely for three weeks.

‘I had to change my flight because I was due to come back on Wednesday so I would have had to quarantine. I didn’t fancy staying in my house for ten days and I have work tomorrow, so I didn’t really have a choice.

‘I had to pay £215 because the fare had gone up seeing as everyone was racing to get back before the rules changed. I already had a covid test booked for today which I had to change and that was difficult actually.

‘Thursday was a public holiday in Portugal so everything was closed – I had to wake up early on Friday – 7:30am, and go to the clinic. Originally, when I flew out there, they had just launched the traffic light system and so I knew it was risky. I feel like the goal posts have moved slightly, but I accept that things are not certain and can always change. 

‘I wasn’t in the Algarve where there seems to be all the problems, I was Lisbon. I probably won’t get any of the money back.’

Bjorn Zuber, 39, from Kent, who works in finance and is travelling with his wife and two kids said: ‘We were in Portugal for two weeks and had always planned to come back today, so we were lucky.

‘But we have some friends who are still out there and they were meant to come back on Wednesday. They had to rebook their flights because they have jobs on and couldn’t afford to quarantine.

‘I think they ended up spending €1,100 just on new flights and are supposed to be flying in this evening. They also had to reschedule their pre departure covid test which was a nightmare. The most stressful thing is not knowing what you need and what you don’t need.

‘Going out we needed four covid tests, but then getting on the plane we only needed two and now only three of us need to test on day two. Adding Portugal to the amber list makes no sense at all, because there is only a spike in Lisbon.’

Speaking to the BBC yesterday, vaccine centre volunteer Angela Mantana said she got news of the sudden decision just one day after getting to Portugal and now has to quarantine for 10 days at home because she was unable to get PCR tests or ‘suitable’ flights back to the East Midlands. It means she cannot provide jabs at her local centre, or provide her aunt – who is shielding – her daily medication. 

Asked how difficult it has been to get back to the UK, she said: ‘It’s almost been impossible. We arrived on the Wednesday, on the Thursday we were notified it had gone to amber and immediately we started looking for flights and tests. There were no tests available and the flights weren’t suitable to get us back to the East Midlands.

‘We got our original test booked in, but because other people had obviously been trying there was nothing available. It leaves us that we’ve got to finish the holiday and then go into quarantine when we come back.  

‘The implications are we are volunteers at a vaccine centre and on the Friday when we return we were supposed to be going in so we’ve had to let those people down. Equally I shield an auntie who has severe medical conditions who I see on a daily basis to apply medication and I’m not going to be able to do that.

‘We can joke about it, but you arrive one day and the next day we’re planning to get home.’   

One British traveller, Mike Indian described ‘chaotic’ scenes at Faro Airport and having to push past other travellers after officials told him he would need to run to make his flight to London Luton.  

He told Radio 4’s Today programme he managed to board the plane with just five minutes to spare. 

 

Genetic epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector, of King’s College London, slammed ministers and said there is more risk travelling from London to Manchester than going on holiday to Portugal. 

He said: ‘We seem to be slightly more obsessed with these variants than any other country and I think this is probably because we’re leading the world in our genetics in terms of us understanding what these variants are doing. But it’s also creating this slight element of panic and fear, because of these potentials of these variants to do something.

‘But I think if we look at the hard data there’s really been hardly any increase in admissions and death rates are really low because this is getting to be a milder disease. We’ve got to get on with this. We’re not going to get to Covid zero so we need to learn to live with this virus, this milder form, even though it is more transmissible.’

Official figures show Bolton has 355.1 cases per 100,000 people, while Manchester has had a rate of 63.1 new cases per 100,000 people in the past week. By comparison, Portugal had a rate of 65.19 per 100,000 people in the last 14 days.  

Prof Spector added: ‘If you travel from London to Manchester at the moment, it’s a much greater risk than going to Portugal, Spain, Italy, France. Are we protecting the Portuguese from problems? Is it that way around? Because, otherwise, I don’t really get it.’ 

Separate figures showed that, between May 18 and 24, the seven-day rolling average of new coronavirus cases per 100,000 of Portugal’s population was 30.2. On May 31, the rate in the UK was 35.9.

Tim Alderslade, of Airlines UK, said last night: ‘We essentially have a pretend traffic light system. They have ignored their own recommendations and led an entire industry down the garden path. It’s clear that many in Government don’t want international travel this summer. They should have the decency to tell us so we and our passengers can plan accordingly.’ 

Which? Travel editor, Rory Boland said: ‘People understand that the current public health situation will sometimes require changes to the traffic light lists at short notice, but the government needs to be upfront about how the system works so people can make informed decisions about their travel plans.

‘The Government had suggested more notice would be given this summer in moving countries between traffic lights, including the use of a green watchlist, so travellers will be upset that they now face huge bills to try and get home before the quarantine requirements come in.

‘Demand for flights has inevitably soared, and while it’s good to hear airlines are running additional flights to help accommodate this, we cannot see a return of the rip-off fares of last summer when customers trying to get home were held to ransom for huge sums of money.’ 

Seven countries were added to the red list, but no new ones went green. It means that, of the 11 destinations left on the green list, Gibraltar and Iceland are the only ones Britons can realistically visit. Quarantine-free travel is only possible to green countries.

They are also the only ones where ministers say people should go on holiday. The list is reviewed every three weeks, with the next due on June 28.

A Government spokesman said: ‘We have taken a cautious approach to our green travel list to protect the country and our vaccination campaign from the threat of Covid-19 variants.’ 

Portuguese premier Antonio Costa criticised Britain for removing the country from its green list. ‘We can’t have this system of instability and changes every three weeks, he told reporters. ‘It isn’t good for those who plan their holidays, nor for those who have to organise the tourism industry to receive tourists in good conditions.’

He added Portugal was maintaining dialogue with the UK to ‘explain the decision is not justified and also the serious damage it causes to the British and to the Portuguese economy.’ 

Portugal’s tourism chief Luis Araújo also condemned the UK’s decision to remove the country from green travel status and insisted all necessary precautions had been taken to ensure the safety of visitors. ‘We are extremely disappointed to hear that the UK government has made the decision to remove Portugal from the green list,’ he said.

‘We fully maintain and stress unwavering confidence in the safety of the nation and thank the support of all our partners and friends in the UK, especially our trading partners that have been essential in quickly reinstating flight capacity into Portugal.

‘Our country is open and prepared to welcome any tourist and we have taken all the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our visitors and residents.’ 

It comes amid reports that so-called Freedom Day could be delayed by a fortnight after Chris Whitty delivered a ‘downbeat’ assessment to ministers.

The June 21 milestone could be pushed back to allow all over-50s to be fully vaccinated and give time for the jabs to take effect.

The Cabinet are split on the issue with some urging Boris Johnson to exercise caution while others say the focus must now shift to the economic recovery.

In a round of interviews this morning, Environment Secretary George Eustice said the government ‘don’t rule anything out’ in terms of changing the timetable.

But he also insisted that the data on vaccines were ‘encouraging’ and a final decision will not be taken until next Monday.

Medical and science chiefs Prof Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance reportedly gave a ‘fairly grim’ update on the situation to ministers, underlining that jabs can never provide 100 per cent protection and variants are significantly more transmissible.

Whitehall sources said contingency plans are being drawn up for a possible ‘short’ delay to give scientists more time to consider data and allow the NHS to carry out more vaccinations.

One cabinet source told The Times they expected to see a delay of ‘between two weeks and a month’.

They said there was not much concern about political backlash as long as the full reopening happened before schools break for summer on July 23.

Matt Hancock and Michael Gove are among those pushing a more dovish approach, while Rishi Sunak and Grant Shapps want to avoid delay.

Despite the vaccine success, some ministers and officials have been spooked by a surge in Covid cases, with a 68 per cent rise today compared to last week. However, those cases have so far not fed through into hospitalisations and deaths, suggesting immunity levels are offering substantial protection.  

Another source said: ‘Most of the cases now are among teenagers, who are not going to get seriously ill. The health lobby will always want more data but we have enough now to get on with it.’

But another insider said: ‘No decisions have been taken but it is looking pretty challenging to go ahead on June 21. I think people are leaning towards a short delay.

‘It would be a nightmare for the sectors affected, but – having said it is all about data not dates – it is difficult to go ahead with a reopening when the data is pointing the wrong way.’

An insider told the Times on the briefing from Prof Whitty and Sir Patrick: ‘They emphasised again that the vaccine did not provide 100 per cent protection and there were real concerns about the transmissibility of the new variants.

‘I think you’re looking at a delay of between two weeks and a month. As long as we have fully opened things up by the school holidays then I don’t think the political damage will be too great.’

Tory MPs reacted with fury after Matt Hancock said he was ‘absolutely open’ to delaying so-called ‘Freedom Day’ and keep face masks and work-from-home guidance in place if coronavirus data turned ‘bad’ this week.

Sir Desmond Swayne said ministers were ‘wasting the advantages afforded by the success of vaccinations’. He added: ‘The original mission statement was to save lives by protecting the NHS. We’ve done that. The more it moves the goalposts, the more people will be made redundant.’ 

Former Tory Cabinet minister David Jones said: ‘Matt Hancock has acknowledged that most people in hospital [with Covid-19] have not been vaccinated.  The answer is therefore to get as many people as possible vaccinated as quickly as possible. It is not to delay the lifting of lockdown, with the attendant damage to people’s mental and physical wellbeing and to the economy.’ 

Senior Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said there was ‘increasing frustration’ among his colleagues over the restrictions.  He added: ‘We’ve got to be really, really careful about getting panicked about every variant that comes along until we are absolutely sure there is one that is going to defeat the vaccine.’ 

But Labour signalled it could support some restrictions remaining in place. 

Education spokesman Kate Green said: ‘If we have to maintain some protective measures beyond June 21, that is what the Government should do, but I think it is really important that it’s a decision taken on the basis of the data.’

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Munira Wilson urged ministers to ‘remain cautious, especially given rising case numbers, and to follow the evidence before making a final decision about opening up’.