Portugal has been axed from Scotland's green travel list following concerns of a new coronavirus mutation and rising cases.

The holiday hotspot will now be part of the amber list from Tuesday (June 8) at 4am, meaning those arriving from Portugal will have to quarantine for 10 days. 

The rules will also apply to the islands of Madeira and the Azores. 

The annoucement has been expected since this morning following a meeting between the Westminster and devolved governments, as well as the Joint Biosecurity Centre.

Travel bosses said the move will cause “untold damage to customer confidence”.

Nicola Sturgeon has warned the Scottish Government will be 'highly cautious' over international travel after adopting the traffic light system last month and urge people not to book summer holidays this year. 

Amongst the changes, Sri Lanka, Egypt and five other countries will also be added to the red list requiring isolation in a Government-approved hotel, it was announced on Thursday afternoon.

Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Sudan, and Trinidad and Tobago will also be placed on the red list, meaning people arriving in the UK from those nations will be required to stay in a quarantine hotel for 11 nights.

 

The UK Government's Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “I want to be straight with people, it’s actually a difficult decision to make, but in the end we’ve seen two things really which caused concern.

“One is the positivity rate has nearly doubled since the last review in Portugal and the other is there’s a sort of Nepal mutation of the so-called Indian variant which has been detected and we just don’t know the potential for that to be vaccine-defeating mutation and simply don’t want to take the risk as we come up to June 21 and the review of the fourth stage of the unlock.”

Andrew Flintham, the managing director of the TUI UK travel group, blasted the announcement as “another step back for our industry”.

“After promises that the Global Travel Taskforce would result in a clear framework, removing the damaging flip flopping we all endured last summer, the Government decision to move Portugal straight from green to amber will do untold damage to customer confidence,” he said.

“We were reassured that a green watch list would be created and a weeks’ notice would be given so travellers wouldn’t have to rush back home. They have failed on this promise.”

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Many holidaymakers in Portugal face a scramble for flights home before the move is introduced.

The Government’s move is a huge blow for the travel industry, as the country was the only viable major tourist destination on the green list.

It is only 17 days since the ban on non-essential leisure travel from Britain was lifted.

Portugal’s seven-day rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people stands at 37.2, up from 30.7 a week earlier.

The Government has previously said assessments of travel lists are based on a range of factors, including the proportion of a population that has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants, and access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.

People returning to the UK from red-list locations must stay in a quarantine hotel at a cost of £1,750 for solo travellers.