The Pictairn Islands and the British Antartic Territory are among the most exotic of the 16 additions to the unrestricted ‘green list’ — but the journey might take as long as the quarantine.

Alastair Jamieson and Zoe Tidman take a closer look at the latest quarantine-free holiday destinations:

Angela Merkel has called on Europe to join forces and impose a 14-day quarantine on all UK travellers - even if they have been double jabbed.

Countries such as Portugal, Greece and Spain currently allow British tourists quarantine-free travel, however the German chancellor has said they should face penalties in a bid to suppress the Delta coronavirus variant.

Responding to the changes in Covid travel restrictions, shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “The government’s approach to securing our borders against Covid and its variants has been chaotic and dangerous.

“Boris Johnson’s failure to act let the Delta variant take hold and held back our reopening with the British people paying the price.

“Labour wants to see travel reopen and is supportive of a limited and safe green list.

“We have been calling for an international vaccine passport and will look seriously at the details of proposals for travel or quarantine arrangements for people who have been double-vaccinated.

“Ministers must urgently publish the data that supports their decisions and scrap the amber list, which is still causing confusion, with too many people travelling to countries not deemed safe.”

Responding to the plans to phase out quarantine for fully vaccinated people returning from amber list countries, Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, said: “The government must address the current serious problems with the testing for travel system, as pre-departure and Day 2 testing requirements are expected to remain in place.

“The government must urgently take steps to ensure its testing system is robust, accurate, and that all results are delivered on time, every time - not only to ensure travellers aren’t left out of pocket by a flawed testing system, but to protect the health of the country.”

Reacting to the expansion of the travel green list, Kirsten Hughes, UK managing director at Travel Counsellors, said: “It is a very positive move forward to have some additional countries added to the green list.

“Finally there is some light at the end of the tunnel and the real chance of a holiday abroad this summer.

“The travel industry and the travelling public has been craving more clarity and we hope to hear soon about the relaxation of quarantine rules for fully vaccinated people later in the summer.”

Travel industry bosses have cautiously welcomed the expansion of the green list - but warned it “fails to go far enough”.

Shai Weiss, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said: "It's a constructive step that the government has recognised that Antigua, Barbados and Grenada can be classified as 'green' allowing family and friends to finally reunite and enable much needed holidays.

"However today's announcement fails to go far enough."

For those who have questions about tonight’s travel announcements, The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder will know the answer.

Given how quickly travel restrictions are changing at the moment, Simon’s weekly newsletter is an indispensable guide. Sign up here:

The aviation sector has responded to the extension of the green list by saying that it is not “the meaningful restart” the industry needs.

After the government made destinations such as Malta “quarantine-free”, Karen Dee, the chief executive of the Airport Operators Assocations, said: “Any extension of the green list is welcome, however small, but we also have to be realistic: this is not yet the meaningful restart the aviation industry needs to be able to recover from the pandemic.”

Welcoming the news that the government plans to exempt fully vaccinated travellers from self-isolation, Ms Dee urged haste, saying ministers needed to implement their plans quickly “to save what remains of the summer season”.

Air fares to new green list destinations have started to soar.

The Independent has been monitoring prices from the UK to three of the places which have just moved from the “amber list” to green.

The largest fare hike was the 137 per cent increase in a return journey on British Airways from London Heathrow to Funchal in Madeira, which now costs £358.

The dates chosen for test bookings were 27 June outbound, returning 4 July inbound.

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has more details:

As part of Grant Shapp’s announcement tonight, he said Israel & Jerusalem had been added to the green watchlist.

But what is this list and how does it work?

The green watchlist is designed to identify which places are most at risk of moving from green to amber, with countries kept under review “with a particular focus on variants of concern”.

Our travel desk has more information here: