France restrictions ‘could be dropped’ in next week’s traffic light update

France could be moved back to the amber list in next week’s traffic light reshuffle, according to reports.

The popular holiday destination was hastily moved to the new category on the evening of Friday 15 July, unofficially the “amber plus” list, which mandated 10 days of self-isolation and two PCR tests regardless of vaccination status.

It followed the introduction of new rules for fully vaccinated Britons, who could swerve quarantine when returning from amber destinations.

Both sets of restrictions came into force at 4am on 19 July.

Just two weeks after the amber plus introduction, restrictions from France look set to be dropped as the threat from the Beta variant of coronavirus wanes, reports The Times.

It’s understood that the Delta variant, the prevalent mutation in the UK, is now spreading faster than the Beta variant – first identified in South Africa.

The newspaper also reported that it was “unlikely” holiday hotspots Spain and Greece would join the amber plus category, instead remaining amber.

There were fears that due to rising infections they would also be shuffled into “amber plus” at short notice.

Robert Boyle, former strategy director for IAG, said last week: “What they [the government] certainly shouldn’t do in my opinion is to ‘double down’ on the amber [plus] list by adding Spain and Greece to it, as some have been speculating that they might.”

Most of Europe remains on the amber list, including Spain, Portugal and Greece. Croatia, Gibraltar, Malta, Madeira, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Bulgaria are on the “green list”, which permits quarantine-free travel regardless of vaccination status.