France travel: rules for travelling between UK and France explained - as country moves to amber list

In the latest travel update from the Government, France, which had been in its own amber plus category, has been moved into the amber list.

This is everything you need to know.

What are the new rules for returning from France?

Arrivals entering England from France will now have to follow the amber list rules instead of following the previous rules which stipulated that travellers had to quarantine regardless of vaccination status.

In the update, the Government said: “The UK government has today (5 August 2021) announced that arrivals from France to England will no longer need to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated.

“The step aligns France with the rest of the amber list now that the proportion of beta variant cases has fallen, where those who are fully vaccinated with a vaccine authorised and administered in the UK, US or Europe do not need to quarantine when arriving in England.”

If you are arriving in England from an amber list country, you must follow the amber list rules.

Before travel to England, you must:

- Take a Covid-19 test in the three days before you travel to England

- Book and pay for Covid-19 tests to be taken after arrival in England

- Complete a passenger locator form

On arrival in England, you must:

- Quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days

- Take a Covid-19 test on or before day two and on or after day eight

However, fully vaccinated passengers, and those under the age of 18, do not have to quarantine or take a day eight test after arriving in England.

It’s specified that you must have had your final dose of the vaccine at least 14 whole days before the date you arrive in England, and you still need to book and take a day two test.

When do the new rules come into effect?

The new changes come into play from 4am on Sunday 8 August.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We are committed to opening up international travel safely, taking advantage of the gains we’ve made through our successful vaccination programme, helping connect families, friends and businesses around the world.

“While we must continue to be cautious, today’s changes reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid added: “As we learn to live with this virus, we are continuing to take steps to safely reopen international travel based on the latest data and expert public health advice.

“The vaccines have already prevented around 60,000 deaths and 22 million infections in England and, with over 7 in 10 adults in the UK now double-jabbed, we are building a wall of defence against the disease.

“As well as moving more countries to the green list, today’s announcement also demonstrates the need for continued caution. Further countries have been added to the red list to help protect the success of our vaccine rollout from the threat of new variants.”

What other changes were announced?

As well as moving France into the amber list, a number of other changes were also revealed in the latest update.

Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway are all set to be added to the green list, “having demonstrated they pose a low risk to UK public health” the Government says.

India, Bahrain, Qatar and UAE will also move from the red list to the amber list.

Following assessment of the latest data, Georgia, La Reunion, Mayotte and Mexico are all going to be moved to the red list, because “they present a high public health risk to the UK from known variants of concern, known high risk variants under investigation, or as a result of very high in-country or territory prevalence of Covid-19”.

Additionally, arrivals from Spain, which will remain on the amber list, and all of its islands are now advised to use a PCR test as their pre-departure test wherever possible, as a precautionary measure against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country.