Welcome to the travel live blog.

We’re expecting the green list to be reshuffled at some point today, and there are plenty of predictions for what might be on it: Greek islands, the Canary islands, Malta and Finland in Europe.

Deputy travel editor Helen Coffey has the full report of what might make the cut here.

The public should “exercise their common sense” about travelling abroad, a Home Office minister has said.

Asked on Times Radio whether her department would rather people stayed in the UK, Victoria Atkins said: “We’re very, very, very supportive of the traffic light system. There are some countries in the world at the moment that because of the variants and the rates of infection are simply too dangerous for us to visit in terms of Covid, and of course they are on the red list.

“We then have the amber list which we very much ask people not to travel to unless there are very particular, very dire consequences they’re having to deal with, such as a dying relative, and then the green list.

“And look, the overall goal, we all want to get back to normality, pre-pandemic normality. But I think all understand we’ve got to take careful steps to do that. And so the travel plan and travel lists are very much part of our road map out of lockdown restrictions, but we do have to look at the data.

“We do have to look at what is happening elsewhere in the world, in order to help advise the public as to what is allowed and what is not allowed. But as with anything, we’re asking the public to exercise their common sense and that is the way that we’re going to be able to return to normality.”

Reporting by agencies

While all the attention is on the green list, there could also be changes to the red list.

The list of “unsafe” destinations based on Covid reimportation risks, is 43 countries strong and includes most of South America, Africa and India.

But what could turn red?

The former director of strategy at BA’s parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) and founder of GridPoint Consulting Limited, Robert Boyle, recently assessed the available case rate and testing data to predict which countries might move lists.

Purely based on infection rates, the countries with the highest reported case rates – based on a seven-day average reported cases per million – that are currently classified as amber are Bahrain, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago and Kuwait.

“Expect those to be added shortly” to the red list, wrote Mr Boyle.

Read Helen Coffey’s report here.

The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder answered readers’ travel questions on the green list in an “Ask Me Anything”.

One reader asked what the chances were of Mallorca being added to the green list.

Here’s what Simon said: “Expect a relatively modest number of additions to the quarantine free list. While the Balearics – Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza – look prime candidates, that is no guarantee that they will make the grade.

“I expect a sprinkling of Greek Islands to go green, and if Malta does not make the cut then the Maltese have every right to be Cross.”

Read his answers to 34 green list questions here.

A handful of Greek islands are slated to go green in the review.

Here’s what travel correspondent Simon Calder has to say about which ones might make the grade:

My interpretation is as follows for the key islands (from a UK perspective):

• Likely: Kefalonia, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini and Zante.
• Possible: Corfu, Lesbos and Rhodes.
• Unlikely: Crete.

Of course there are many other lovely Greek islands but these are the most significant for British visitors.”

Read his answers to 34 green list questions here.

Travel expert and founder of the PC Agency Paul Charles has thrown his own predictions for the green list into the mix.

He tweeted: “We’re likely to see a thin green list announced Thursday - destinations which should go green are Malta, Finland, Grenada, Antigua, Turks and Caicos, Santorini, Mykonos.”

He also said that Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia - many of which have previously fared well during the pandemic - are “all being considered” for the red list.

“Summer is being squeezed, affecting recovery of jobs and livelihoods in the travel sector,” he added.

In a nod to the green list possibly expanding later today, several airlines are offering deals.

Wizz Air has announced a 24-hour sale on all routes, offering passengers 15 per cent off flights booked today departing on or before 30 June 2021.

Meanwhile, Jet2holidays is selling a range of package deals; for example, seven nights in a self-catering apartment in Funchal, Madeira, for £399pp including flights and transfers, departing 28 June from Birmingham.

Despite the fact that the UK’s traffic light travel system, which categorises countries as red, amber or green with restrictions to match, was first announced on 7 May and launched on 17 May, many travellers are still confused by the myriad rules.

“There are still many misapprehensions about the traffic light system,” writes The Independent’s travel correspondent, Simon Calder.

For example, while it could be easy to assume that a green rating means you can travel to that destination, this isn’t necessarily true.

“It merely means you need not quarantine when you return to the UK,” writes Simon.

“Most of the places on the existing green list – including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore – certainly don’t want British visitors right now. Or, you can reach them only by going through an amber list nation: a good example is the Faroe Islands, accessible only via Copenhagen in amber list Denmark.

“Anyone hoping to visit a green list country must check that they will be admitted. In some locations, that means having completed a full course of vaccination.”

Read Simon’s full myth busting report here.

For those already embarking on amber list travel, ferry services to the Greek islands have been disrupted after a seamen's union went ahead with a strike that a court had declared illegal.

Union members blockaded the entrance to ferries in the main port of Piraeus, preventing anyone from boarding.

Hundreds of passengers with their suitcases gathered at the port, saying the ferry companies had not informed them of the strike, and heated arguments broke out between passengers and striking workers.

The union had declared a 24-hour strike to protest against a draft labour bill being debated in parliament, which workers say will erode their rights.

Other unions have declared strikes for June 10 as part of a general strike.

“Today's strike, as you know, had been deemed illegal,” shipping and island policy minister Giannis Plakiotakis said.

“The choice of one union to move outside the legal framework is a wrong tactic, which turns against passengers and doesn't serve the union movement.”

He said the ministry intervened, with the union eventually relenting and allowing passengers to board. The ferries set sail after several hours' delay.

Reporting by agencies

If the green list expands as expected later today, it could spell trouble for the UK’s testing capacity, a travel expert warned.

Which? travel editor Rory Boland told Sky News that “too many people are not getting their test back on time.”

Holiday favourites such as Malta, the Spanish Balearic Islands and some Greek islands have been named as contenders to go green.

But Mr Boland said this could further stretch a private testing system that is already struggling to meet demand.

“Providers to us were saying that it's simply not set up to deal with the numbers of people who need to use it,” he said.

“So if we see the Canary Islands, Spain, Greece - some big destinations that hundreds of thousands of people want to go to - turn up on the green list, it's hard to see how that system is going to cope.

“It is at risk of being overwhelmed.”