The US refuses to lift restrictions on British visitors

chicago - AP
chicago - AP

The US won't be easing travel restrictions any time soon, in another blow to the prospects of trans-Atlantic movement this summer.

"Given where we are today with the delta variant, the United States will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point," a White House official told Reuters on Monday, citing the spread of the delta variant both domestically and abroad.

Only July 20, the American Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) placed Britain at the highest travel warning level, meaning Americans should not visit except in an emergency.

In response, Virgin Atlantic’s COO Corneel Koster told Telegraph Travel: “Vaccination levels are very high in the UK, and very high in the US – if we follow the data the US should open. So should big parts of Europe, and so should other parts of the world. Step by step. Aviation can be rebuilt safely.”

The US has been shut to the majority of UK travellers since March 2020.


04:53 PM

What happened today?

A recap of the day's top stories:

  • France could be removed from 'amber plus' list next week

  • Heathrow pandemic losses reach £2.9 billion

  • Double-jabbed expats free to travel to UK under relaxed vaccine rules

  • Sydney could stay in lockdown until mid September

  • Finland reopens to vaccinated Britons

Join us tomorrow for more of the latest travel news.


04:39 PM

Summer holiday boost? UK Covid cases continue to fall

School summer holidays have kicked off with the welcome news that reported UK Covid cases are at their lowest for more than three weeks.

Coronavirus cases in the UK are down for the sixth day in a row, with 24,950 more infections logged as of 9am on Monday, Government figures show. This is a 15,000 drop on the figure last Monday.

Tourist businesses and holidaymakers across the country will no doubt be hoping the decrease means less chance of self-isolation orders ruining upcoming trips.

However, a Downing Street spokesman said earlier that while the fall has been "encouraging", numbers were still expected to rise when the effect of the July 19 unlocking is seen.

"The Prime Minister thinks we're not out of the woods yet," the spokesperson told reporters in Westminster.


04:27 PM

What to do if you test positive for Covid while on holiday

lncreativemedia/Getty - lncreativemedia/Getty

The traffic light system is enabling British holidaymakers to travel once again, but even visitors to green list countries are required to take a test before returning to the UK.

All being well, it will be negative, your airline will allow you to board and Border Force will let you in. But what if you test positive? Here we detail what to do if you catch coronavirus on holiday, home or abroad.


04:09 PM

Thailand reports record spike in cases

Thailand has reported a record number of new coronavirus infections, with 15,376 cases and 87 new deaths recorded today.

The south east Asian country is grappling with a delta variant surge and low vaccination rates. So far, only 5.6 per cent of the population are double-jabbed, though 18.94 per cent have received one dose.


03:55 PM

Airlines demand changes to ‘failed’ traffic light system

Trade body Airlines UK has written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to demand changes to the “failed” traffic light system.

In the letter, Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade wrote: “The traffic light system has so far failed to achieve the sustained and meaningful restart to international travel that was intended.

“In Europe, passenger bookings recovered to 50 per cent of pre-crisis levels in June compared to just 16 per cent in the UK.

"Demand to the UK from the US remains only around 20 per cent of 2019 levels, whereas to the EU it is around 65 per cent.”

He also cited the removal of Portugal and the Balearic Islands from the green list and the addition of France to the ‘amber plus’ list as examples of “frustrating, last-minute and opaque decision-making.”

The Government is due to carry out a review of the traffic light system this week.


03:41 PM

10 places across Britain where you can still bag a summer break

These rooms, trips and packages still have availability for July and August – book now before they go.

Glenapp Castle still has rooms in August - Paul Walker
Glenapp Castle still has rooms in August - Paul Walker

Find the list here


03:31 PM

Spotlight on the US, as travel restrictions remain in place

Covid cases are on the rise in the US, as the delta variant continues to surge. Yesterday, the country reported its seven-day average of new infections to be 51,939. This is up from 12,799 on July 1.


03:14 PM

From pop-up campsites to a stay in Nelson Mandela's home: the week's positive travel picks

If you're lucky, you might spot a meteor shower - iStockphoto

Think travel is all doom and gloom? Think again. Here are some exciting things happening in the world of tourism to remind us that great experiences await both on home turf, and further afield as soon as we can travel freely again.

Read the full story here.


03:01 PM

Analysis: The rule changes we hope the travel 'checkpoint' will bring

From quarantine rules to testing costs, a review of the reopening of international travel is due this month, reports Emma Featherstone.

Could Covid-19 test requirements for travel be cut down, or prices reduced? Will the amber plus category expand, or be scrapped? When will the Foreign Office lift its effective ban on international cruises?

Holidaymakers and the travel industry will be looking for answers to these questions and more in the latest “checkpoint” or “strategic review” on the requirements for international travel, due by July 31, under the Global Travel Taskforce recommendations.

Below, we dig into some of the key points that could be up for discussion and what changes travellers and travel companies would welcome in the coming weeks and months.

Read the analysis here.


02:47 PM

Heathrow to welcome fewer passengers in 2021 than in pandemic year

Heathrow has been given fresh breathing space by its lenders after warning it will welcome fewer passengers in 2021 than when the pandemic hit last year.

The airport is forecasting 21.5 million passengers this year, lower than the 22.1 million it handled in 2020.

Bosses have struck a deal with lenders to avoid defaulting on a £15bn debt pile later this year as a result of the forecasts, which are lower than previously estimated.

Heathrow said the passenger downgrade was “a consequence of ongoing political caution around border controls and the gradual reopening of international travel”.

John Holland-Kaye, chief executive, said:

The UK is emerging from the worst effects of the health pandemic, but is falling behind its EU rivals in international trade by being slow to remove restrictions.


02:32 PM

France could be removed from 'amber plus' list next week

France could be moved back to the amber list next week, meaning double-jabbed travellers would be exempt from quarantine upon their return to the UK, Government sources have said.

It is currently the only country on the so-called 'amber plus' list, a category created last week which makes quarantine mandatory for all arrivals, including the fully vaccinated, over fears that France had too much of the beta variant that first originated in South Africa.

The move was widely condemned, not least because cases of the beta variant are higher (and still rising) in Spain, which remains amber.

Environment Secretary George Eustice told LBC Radio:

It was concern about the beta variant and the fact that the vaccine might be slightly less effective against that. But as those rates come down obviously the evidence will change and it can be reviewed and we will want to be putting countries like France back onto the amber list in the normal way.

According to Government officials, it is also 'unlikely' that Spain and Greece will join the amber-plus list despite their rising cases.


02:02 PM

Feature: How quasi-religious ‘retreats’ became a £500bn business

Nat Segnit's new book Retreat looks at far-flung retreat centres, where meditation has become ‘the religion of no religion’, writes Peter Stanford:

The word “retreat” is now deployed not just for the religious ritual of withdrawal from the world to reflect, but also as part of a global mindfulness tourist industry that, according to Nat Segnit, is worth almost £500 billion each year. Even with institutional religion in steep decline in the West, the retreat continues to have an active resonance in our self-avowedly secular and sceptical world.

Segnit begins modestly in his search to understand its allure by attending a yoga retreat in Devon. “Smoke rose,” he writes, “from an incense burner like the ghost of a hypnotized cobra.” But if he starts as an outsider looking in with a wry eye, it quickly becomes apparent that there is both seriousness of purpose and something intensely personal about this mixture of memoir, travelogue, history and science.

Read on, here.


01:53 PM

In pictures: tourists around the world

Here's what tourists have been up to over the weekend...

milan - Anadolu
milan - Anadolu
benidorm -  Manuel Lorenzo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
benidorm - Manuel Lorenzo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Marrakech - AFP
Marrakech - AFP
marble arch - AFP
marble arch - AFP

01:40 PM

Dutch ease EU Covid-19 travel restrictions but extend festival ban

Authorities in the Netherlands are easing restrictions to allow travel to all European Union countries - but extended a ban on multiple-day music festivals, which were deemed too risky.

Dutch travel recommendations will now no longer be based solely on infection rates which had been making holidays to Spain and Portugal virtually impossible, the country's health ministry said.

The decision was made possible by a relatively high vaccination rate of 50 per cent across the 26-nation bloc and manageable hospital occupancy rates in the Netherlands, it added.

Travellers aged 12 and older will have to provide a negative test result from August 8 when returning to the Netherlands from an EU country deemed risky.

The Netherlands reimposed restrictions on dance clubs, music festivals and restaurants on July 9 just two weeks after reopening, citing a surge in the delta variant among young people.


01:27 PM

Inspiration: The 6 hottest new hotels in Ireland for a summer holiday

Now that Ireland is welcoming fully vaccinated Britons, our expert Aoife O’Riordain has some tempting suggestions.

From a Georgian mansion on the River Rye and a family-friendly lakeside lodge, to a 19th-century train station hotel and a retro-styled city scene-stealer, Ireland has some fabulous new hotels to head to.

Here are six of the best.

carton house - Barry Murphy Photography
carton house - Barry Murphy Photography

01:14 PM

Pingdemic travel chaos as commuters cram on to reduced services

On the morning that many Britons returned to the office after months of working from home, the pingdemic saw commuters squeezed onto reduced services due to rail staff self-isolating.

Train operators have been forced to slash the number of trains on the tracks on Monday morning because drivers and guards are stuck at home.

But commuters have been left with just one train an hour on busy lines into London, with reports of passengers sitting in the aisles while government advice is to maintain social distance.

The transport union RMT has called for all rail workers to be added to the isolation exemption list that would allow staff to return to their place of work if they tested negative after being pinged.


01:01 PM

South Africa eases restrictions as Covid cases fall

South Africa's government has lifted a ban on alcohol sales and relaxed other pandemic restrictions, saying a spike in coronavirus cases has now peaked.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday night that the average daily number of new confirmed cases over the last week was around 12,000, which was a 20 per cent drop on the previous week.

"The latest figures suggest that we have largely passed the peak of the third wave of infections, although there are areas in the country where we still need to be concerned because the rates of infection have not yet shown signs of decline," he told the nation.

The government is now allowing retail alcohol sales to resume from Monday through Thursday, while bars and restaurants also will be permitted to sell alcoholic beverages.

The red listed country is reported to have now vaccinated around 10 per cent of its population.


12:51 PM

Gozo: The green-listed island you’ve never thought to visit

Things are opening up on the rural island of Gozo, sister island to Malta – go now, before word gets out, says Juliet Rix.

Gozo - Getty
Gozo - Getty

Terraces of tiny fields, tucked within a lattice of drystone walls, sweep away beneath me to the glittering blue waters of the Mediterranean. I’ve stopped at a little limestone chapel perched high above the coast as I catch sight of a colourful catamaran hoving into view. It’s the vessel that brought me here, the new fast ferry to Gozo from the Maltese capital.

Departing from Valletta’s Grand Harbour, flanked by the towering fortifications of the Knights of St John, the ferry slips between defensive harbour walls built by the British, before powering along the coast. Now I see it slow towards the little port of Mgarr, where it will deposit its passengers, as it did me, onto the rural little island of Gozo.

This ultra-convenient ferry has only been running for a few weeks, but so has Malta’s tourism industry, opening up after months of on-off restrictions against Covid-19. It’s been a bumpy ride, as it has for so many travel-dependent economies. But despite masks remaining mandatory indoors and limits on the numbers socialising, Gozo feels quite normal – especially out here amid the wild caper bushes, feathery fennel and prickly pears.

Read on here.


12:36 PM

Heathrow pandemic losses reach £2.9 billion

Heathrow airport has announced that its total losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic have reached £2.9 billion.

The airport welcomed fewer than four million passengers through its gates in the first six months of this year. It reached the same figure within the first three weeks of 2019.

Bosses have warned that, due to ongoing travel restrictions, 2021 passenger numbers could be even lower than last year.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said:

The UK is emerging from the worst effects of the health pandemic, but is falling behind its EU rivals in international trade by being slow to remove restrictions.

Replacing PCR tests with lateral flow tests and opening up to EU and US vaccinated travellers at the end of July will start to get Britain’s economic recovery off the ground.


12:19 PM

Comment: 'Why everyone is choosing the north of Britain over the south for their holidays'

The Lake District National Park - Getty

Right now the smart money is on holidays to the Lakes, the Dales, Scotland and North Wales, writes Chris Moss.

Why might this be the year to swerve away from Cornwall, Devon, East Anglia and the Sussex coast, and go north? Well, it is of course that they’re wonderful and storied and fascinating. But it could also be basic common sense. The north is cheaper, as well as cheerier.

Hotel prices are more competitive in the north. Check out the Telegraph’s hotel reviews for the Lake District – hardly an off-radar destination – and you’ll find luxurious double rooms in country pubs starting from as little as £79 per night. Even a room in the high-end lavish property like the Telegraph-rated 9/10, 18th century Storrs Hall can be had for £165 per night.

Food and booze are much more affordable once you get out to the provinces. Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and York have cheaper pints, pub food and haute cuisine, and their delis and bijou food outlets wouldn’t dare charge the extortionate prices you’d find at, say, London’s Borough Market or in mega-rich Surrey and Oxfordshire enclaves.

Read the full story here.


12:11 PM

Almost 60 per cent of French population vaccinated

The number of people in France who have received at least one jab against Covid-19 has crossed the 40-million mark, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

After four million people received vaccines over the past two weeks, almost 60 percent of the population are now partly or fully vaccinated, Macron tweeted during an official visit in French Polynesia.

"All together, we will beat the virus. We will carry on," he said.

The health ministry added Monday that some 33.2 million people in France, close to 50 percent of the population, are now fully vaccinated.

The news follows suggestions that France could be removed from the 'amber plus' list.


12:01 PM

Finland reopens to vaccinated Britons

Finnish border restrictions have eased today, allowing travellers from the UK who have been fully vaccinated to enter with no additional quarantine or testing requirements.

Visitors must have had their complete vaccination course at least 14 days prior to arrival and can present their NHS app Covid Pass or a vaccination status letter to gain entry.

Finland is currently on the UK government’s amber list, meaning that fully vaccinated travellers can return without the need to quarantine.

Kristiina Hietasaari, Director of Visit Finland said:

We look forward to welcoming UK travellers back to explore our 188,000 lakes, the forest which covers more than 70% of our land and of course cities such as our capital Helsinki, renowned for its artistic and cultural offerings as well as its vibrant and innovative culinary scene.

Finland - iStock
Finland - iStock

11:56 AM

Tahiti: Vaccinated British travellers now welcome

This just in from Tahiti's tourist board:

Vaccinated travellers from the UK are now allowed to travel to The Islands of Tahiti. Those who have had the Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccine must [have been] fully vaccinated for seven days prior to departure to Tahiti.

Word of warning though: many flights from the UK to these idyllic islands in French Polynesia, which are on the UK's amber list, pass through mainland France, which means you'll have to quarantine in the UK upon return, even if you're fully vaccinated.

tahiti - Maridav
tahiti - Maridav

11:43 AM

Lunchtime read: 'The only time I've been to Milan, I spent the entirety of it in McDonalds'

Let's take a break from the news to enjoy this witty account from Tom Mulvihill on his backpacking trawls through Europe. He writes:

Before arriving in Milan, I had spent days idling in Rome. The streets were broiling in a 35C heatwave and I had arrived at a cheap hotel near the Colosseum to be greeted by the surly owner, his chest hair poking through his string vest and his trousers hanging open, who showed me to my insect-infested room and left me to it. I promptly proceeded to electrocute myself with the plug-in mosquito repellent he’d left me.

I arrived in Milan eventually, overheated, hungry, and wholly convinced that any attempt to leave the railway station could only end in me getting lost or falling in a river, or experiencing some other misfortune. So I decamped to McDonald’s and waited until I could safely leave again – and I haven’t been back since.

Read the full story here.


11:35 AM

At a glance: the situation in France

Despite hopes that France could move back to the amber list, Covid cases in the country are up by nearly 130% since last week. Currently, the rate is 193 per 100,000. The UK's, by comparison, is 427 per 100K.

Deaths on the other hand, are falling; down 2% week-on-week: 144 deaths have been reported in France over the last seven days.


11:24 AM

Italy: Hundreds forced to evacuate as wildfires ravage Sardinia

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes after a wildfire on the Italian island of Sardinia ravaged around 50,000 acres of forest and vegetation on Sunday.

As many as 1,500 people have been forced to flee their homes after businesses and properties were damaged in the blaze, which began on Saturday in the province of Oristano.

"It's a disaster without precedent," said Christian Solinas, the island's governor, adding that it was too early to know the true extent of the destruction.

Luigi di Maio, Italy's foreign minister, said on Sunday that a "large area in the province of Oristano was on its knees", and added that the civil protection agency had appealed for support from Italy's European neighbours.


11:12 AM

Drowning doesn't look like drowning - the guide every parent should read

Police have urged the public to exercise “extreme caution” while wild swimming in Scotland after a weekend of tragedy in which six people, including four boys, drowned.

This is a far more common occurrence than you might think, given most of us have no idea what drowning really looks like. Clue number one: forget everything you've seen in the films. There's no yelling or splashing; it's undramatic and easy to ignore.

Drowning is the third leading cause of accidental death worldwide, with children particularly susceptible, according to the World Health Organization.

Alarmingly, nearly half of these drownings will take place within 25 yards of the caregiver, and in 10 per cent of cases, the adult will watch it happen without realising.

Mario Vittone, a Florida-based expert in sea rescue, develops training courses on the subject of drowning. Below he explains how to spot the signs, and possibly even save a life.

Read the guide here.

drowning - Getty
drowning - Getty

11:00 AM

Six million could have holidays ruined if Spain and Greece turn 'amber plus'

As many as six million Britons could have summer holiday plans ruined, if Spain and Greece fall on the 'amber plus' list in the next traffic light update.

As of last Monday, all double vaccinated arrivals from amber list countries are exempt from quarantine upon return to the UK. However, due to concerns over the beta variant, France was placed in a new category – dubbed 'amber plus' – which means quarantine remains mandatory when returning from the country, even if fully vaccinated.

There have been concerns in recent days that Greece or Spain could join the 'amber plus' list, as instances of the beta variant are feared to be on the rise in the holiday favourites.

Greece has recorded 178 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 over the past seven days, while Spain has recorded 385 per 100,000 – up 10% week-on-week. The next traffic light update is due on or around August 2.


10:44 AM

In pictures: tourists party in Benidorm ahead of curfew

The Spanish region of Valencia has implemented a new curfew (1am-6am) in response to a surge in Covid cases, and tourists were partying in Benidorm right up until the last moment this morning...

benidorm - Reuters
benidorm - Reuters
benidorm - Reuters
benidorm - Reuters
Benidorm - Reuters
Benidorm - Reuters

10:30 AM

'Pingdemic' hits public transport networks across UK

Public transport services are being hit by staff self-isolating, with thousands of "pings" from the NHS Covid app grinding the sector to a halt.

Reduced timetables have been introduced on railways across England in an attempt to improve reliability after a recent spate of last-minute cancellations due to staff shortages.

Thameslink and Southern has cut its weekday timetables on five routes "until further notice", and warned that further changes could be required.

Avanti West Coast has reduced the frequency of its services between London Euston and Manchester, Birmingham and North Wales to "manage staff shortages and ensure a reliable service".

A revised timetable with fewer services was also launched by London Northwestern Railway on Saturday, while ScotRail said a "very limited number of trains" are being cancelled due to staff shortages.

Transport for London closed the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines over the weekend due to more than 300 members of staff self-isolating, and bus operator Arriva said a number of its staff have been told to self-isolate.

Visit our coronavirus live blog for more of the latest.


10:19 AM

Feature: Why it's surprisingly easy to road trip through Europe right now

A 2,500-mile road trip gave Annabel Fenwick Elliott the chance to compare how restrictions are affecting life in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France. She writes:

I arrived at the Eurotunnel in Folkestone armed with a binder full of paperwork, having calculated a total of 11 things that could go seriously wrong during the 14-hour voyage between the start and finish line. And what a blissful anticlimax it was. The English border force gave a cursory check to my documents and waved me straight through, while the French official cared even less – a mere glance at my passport and no request to see my Covid credentials.

I needn’t have bothered with the preparation for the German border either: there didn’t appear to be one. I had been in Deutschland for a good half hour before I noticed the motorway signs were no longer in French.

It turned out this was not just a lucky break. Every crossing in the eight weeks that followed generated a new round of anxiety – it was nigh impossible for us to acquire the fresh “gold-standard” PCR test formally required each time we passed another border – but not once was our car stopped for checks.

annabel - Annabel Fenwick Elliott
annabel - Annabel Fenwick Elliott

10:05 AM

Watch: Chaos for public transport amid London flooding


09:54 AM

Ryanair is bouncing back – expert analysis

Commenting on Ryanair's smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss of €273m today, Laura Hoy, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, states:

The group’s seen bookings rise since the new rules waving quarantine for double-jabbed travellers were announced and expects to fly 9m people in July and a further 10m in August. This is still below pre-Covid levels, but a huge improvement on the past year.

However, despite an influx of travellers, Ryanair’s losses widened over the past three months as the costs to restart flights—fuel, staff, airport handling costs—rose significantly. Ticket prices, on the other hand, were depressed. The airline is using ultra-low fares to offset the knock to passenger confidence that ever-shifting quarantine rules have had. Operating with costs outweighing revenue isn’t a long-term strategy, but management doesn’t expect it will last forever—guidance still suggests the group may be able to breakeven at the full year.

Unfortunately, Ryanair is still at the mercy of the virus and, although a recovery is materialising, the group noted that travel within Europe will be depressed for the foreseeable future. We’re encouraged by the group’s progress, but it may have to toe the precarious line between low fares and high costs for some time.

Head on over to our business live blog for more.


09:44 AM

What a carnivore discovered on the UK’s first ‘vegan trail’

The UK’s first vegan food trail has launched in Scotland; and who better to review it than our reporter Mike MacEacheran, who describes himself as 'a dyed-in-the-wool carnivore'? He writes:

In both culinary and ethical terms, Kings Reach Vegan Bed & Breakfast feels like a guesthouse from the future. There is no leather in the armchairs, no wool in the blankets, no feathers in the pillows. Owners Sean and Sara wear plastic shoes and, naturally, there is no meat or cow’s milk at breakfast. No dairy full stop, in fact – even the soap and hand sanitiser are vegan. That it is surrounded by a century-old sheep farm is all the more remarkable.

Find out what he made of it, here.

vegan
vegan

09:30 AM

At a glance: the situation in Greece

There are also concerns about Greece, where the numbers are also climbing...


09:18 AM

At a glance: the situation in Spain

Here's the current Covid status in Spain, Britain's favourite holiday destination. Both cases and deaths are on the rise...


09:08 AM

In case you missed it: How the island that launched the Covid app is now on its knees due to pingdemic

When the Isle of Wight became the first place to trial the NHS Test and Trace app, residents and businesses said that they were proud to be leading the fight against coronavirus, reports Hayley Dixon.

But now the island which pioneered the technology is being brought to its knees by it, with business owners warning that the so-called "pingdemic" could do more harm than the actual pandemic.

Just as they head into their busiest time of year, the pubs, restaurants and attractions which rely on tourism to survive are having to close their doors or run reduced hours because their staff are isolating.

Read the full report here.


08:50 AM

Sydney could stay in lockdown until mid September

Victoria has reported low numbers of new Covid cases, raising hopes of an end to a lockdown in the Australian state as planned, while neighbouring New South Wales looks set to extend its strict stay-home orders.

Australia is fighting to douse an outbreak of the highly infectious delta variant.

Sydney, the worst affected city and the state capital of NSW, is in a five-week lockdown until Friday, but that looks set to be extended further - possibly September 17 - as a growing number of cases are still being detected in the community before being diagnosed.

NSW reported 145 new cases today.


08:39 AM

'We can't force people to come into work if they've been pinged', says Heathrow boss

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye was asked on Times Radio about suggestions that some Border Force workers do not want to be added to the list of critical workers who are exempt from isolation to tackle the coronavirus "pingdemic".

He replied:

We've been part of the pilot scheme since January and my experience talking to colleagues is they want to come into work. They've been working in a business which has been devastated by the pandemic. They're worried about their jobs and their future.

If there's a chance of serving passengers, they want to be here doing that. That's what's key to them. We can't force people to come into work if they've been pinged, but this is a really good scheme that allows those people who want to work to come in and serve passengers and get Britain back travelling again.


08:28 AM

'Leisure sickness': uncovering the reason why we all get ill on holiday

Weird and unexpected ailments are hallmarks of a trip away, writes Fiona Gibson – so what can you do to prevent them from ruining your all-important break?

VJ Hamilton, a nutritional therapist, explains:

Before a holiday, people often work long hours to finish projects and hand over their workload. This can lead to stress and lack of sleep. The stress response produces the hormone cortisol which suppresses the immune system and makes us more prone to infections. On the other hand, you also produce adrenaline when stressed, which bolsters the immune system, helping you to stay healthy until your work’s done.

Read on, here.


08:16 AM

This family-friendly hotel in Norfolk is where the West London crew are headed for a weekend break

Affordable rooms, a relaxed atmosphere and a petite pool and spa – The Harper has it all for families, writes Hattie Garlick.

Thirty-two rooms are arranged cleverly and carefully around a courtyard, so that the hotel doesn’t loom over the village like a Bond villain but sits comfortably within it, overlooked by the church tower. Owner Sam Cutmore-Scott might not be local, but he’s unearthing a solid team of staff from the surrounding area (front of house are super relaxed yet super professional). Plus, the whole place is residents only. So while locals can’t pop into the bar or restaurant, nor can trippers – capping the traffic associated with the place.

Read the full review here.

Harper
Harper

08:03 AM

Helpline for double-jabbed who missed out on passport for holidays

The NHS is set to launch a helpline for double-jabbed people who have been locked out of getting vaccine passports due to NHS errors, as it emerged at least 50 people a day are being missed.

The Telegraph has been inundated by readers who are fully vaccinated, but face missing out on holidays and entry to major events after failures by NHS recording systems, an investigation has found.

It comes as Nadim Zahawi, the Vaccines Minister, announced on Sunday that 70 per cent of adults are now fully vaccinated and that 88 per cent have had one dose.

Amid growing chaos, health officials are preparing to launch a new service to deal with hundreds of people whose vaccines have not been properly recorded on the app.

Read the full story here.


07:51 AM

Germany: 'Vaccinated will have more freedoms than unvaccinated'

German politicians were deeply divided on Sunday over a warning by Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff that restrictions for unvaccinated people may be necessary if infection numbers reach new heights in coming months.

Chief of staff Helge Braun told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag that he doesn't expect another coronavirus-related lockdown in Germany, but unvaccinated people may be barred from entering venues like restaurants, cinemas or sports stadiums "because the residual risk is too high".

Mr Braun said getting vaccinated is important to protect against severe disease and because "vaccinated people will definitely have more freedoms than unvaccinated people".

He said such policies would be legal because "the state has the responsibility to protect the health of its citizens".


07:44 AM

Double-jabbed expats free to travel to UK under relaxed vaccine rules

Double-vaccinated expats are set to be free to travel to the UK, as the Government plans to recognise foreign jabs from August 1.

British families and couples have been separated by the current restriction on quarantine-free travel to and from amber list countries because the Government only recognises those people who have been vaccinated by the NHS.

However, ministers are preparing to change the rules to allow UK nationals who have been vaccinated overseas to register the jabs with their GP, clearing the way for them to return to the UK to visit family and friends without having to self-isolate for 10 days and pay for two PCR tests.

Read on for the full report.


07:22 AM

What happened over the weekend?

​A quick re-cap of the top travel news stories over the weekend.

Now, on with today's travel news.