What time is the green list travel announcement today?
Three weeks after the last lacklustre update, the government is expected to announcement its next review of the traffic light travel system today, 24 June. The Department for Transport (DfT) will decide which countries are safe enough from the risk of arrivals reimporting coronavirus infections to join its hallowed green list, from where travellers need not quarantine when entering the UK. The 11-strong list currently has little choice for prospective holidaymakers, with Iceland and Gibraltar the only viable destinations for Brits. No new countries were added last time but experts are speculating that a handful of destinations could go green in the latest update. Heres what we know so far. There are 11 places on the green list currently: Ascension Island, Australia, Brunei, the Falkland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Iceland, Israel, New Zealand, Tristan da Cunha, St Helena, Singapore, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Portugal, the only mainstream holiday destination originally placed on the green list, was shunted down to the amber category in the last review in early June. As ever, predictions come heavily caveated with the fact they are just that: predictions. As was evident at the last review, even analysing the available data isnt enough to guess with any certainty what might make the cut. Malta and the Balearic Islands are strong possibilities, a government source told The Times earlier this week. According to Brian Strutton of the pilots union Balpa, a wide range of destinations could potentially get upgraded: Malta; the Balearic and Canary Islands of Spain; some of the Greek islands; the US and some Caribbean islands. I am expecting expansion of the green list, he said. In fact, theres got to be. Were nearly at the point of no return for travel this summer. If we dont start getting some proper destination flying very, very soon, then were going to have bankruptcies and business failures. Im hearing suggestions like, Maybe in August. Well, that isnt going to be good enough. We need flying now.  Analysts concur that Malta is a clear favourite. Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, adds that Madeira should be reinstated to green; along with the rest of Portugal, it was moved from green to amber three weeks ago. He says he is expecting no more than five countries to be added, even though the data says more should be eligible. Among Greek islands, Corfu, Kefalonia, Lesbos, Santorini and Zakynthos (Zante) are looking promising according to the analyst Tim White. No exact time has as yet been confirmed by the government, but various sources have said it is expected at some point this afternoon, including Adam Fleming on BBCs Today programme. The first traffic light announcement on 7 May was made at 5pm; the following review on 3 June went out around 4.15pm. Todays update may well be issued at a similar time. The DfT is being tight-lipped on the matter, merely confirming there will be an announcement some time this week. The Independents travel team will be live blogging all updates as soon as theyre revealed throughout the day. Check out our rolling news coverage here for all the latest additions to the traffic light lists.