All countries to be removed from red list

The remaining seven countries on the government's travel red list are to be removed, meaning there will no longer be a requirement for hotel quarantine for arrivals to the UK.

Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela are being taken off the list from 4am on Monday, which will leave no countries left in the highest category of travel restrictions. 

However, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the red list category and mandatory hotel quarantine was not being scrapped entirely and would be reviewed every three weeks, as the UK’s first line of defence.

The transport secretary also announced that a further 30 new countries and territories, including Peru, Uganda, Argentina, Tanzania and Cambodia, were being added to the list of locations with approved COVID-19 vaccine programmes. It brings the total number of countries on the list to 135.