Fully jabbed travellers returning to England and Wales from France will still need to quarantine from Monday.
From 19 July, adults who are double jabbed within the UK coming back from amber list countries won’t got to isolate for 10 days.
But the govt said the easing wouldn’t apply to France thanks to “persistent” cases of the Beta variant, first identified in South Africa .
There are concerns vaccines might not work also against the Beta variant.
Some 3.4% of cases recorded in France within the past four weeks were the Beta variant, consistent with GISAID, a worldwide open source database.
The more infectious Delta variant – first identified in India – accounts for nearly all new cases within the UK.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “We have always been clear that we’ll not hesitate to require rapid action at our borders to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and protect the gains made by our successful vaccination programme.
“With restrictions lifting on Monday across the country, we’ll do everything we will to make sure international travel is conducted as safely as possible, and protect our borders from the threat of variants.”
Travel firms have criticised the move, accusing the govt of causing confusion.
Willie Walsh, the director-general of the International air transportation Association said “the UK has no coherent policy on international travel” and is “destroying its own travel sector and therefore the thousands of jobs that believe it”.
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The government announcement means anyone who has been in France within the previous 10 days will got to quarantine on arrival to England in their own accommodation and can need each day two and day eight test, no matter their vaccination status.
This includes any fully vaccinated individual who transits through France from either a green or another amber country.
But ministers indicated that Eurostar passengers on services travelling through France wouldn’t got to quarantine if their train didn’t stop within the country.
Existing amber list exemptions for key workers like hauliers will remain in situ .
‘Difficult to understand’
Meanwhile, France has tightened its rules for UK travellers who aren’t fully vaccinated, requiring a negative test within the 24 hours before arrival from Sunday, instead of the 48 hours allowed previously.
But anyone fully vaccinated with a jab from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson are going to be exempt from providing a negative test.
French MEP Veronique Trillet-Lenoir told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that it had been “difficult to understand” the united kingdom rules, because the Beta variant is “not present at all” in mainland France, with France’s cases being found in overseas territories like La Reunion within the Indian Ocean .
Travellers to the united kingdom from France will still have the choice of shortening their quarantine period through the Test to Release scheme – if they buy a test on day five and are negative.
For arrivals from other amber list countries, the need to quarantine is being scrapped for the fully vaccinated and under-18s from Monday altogether parts of the united kingdom .
Each UK nation sets its own travel rules.
A Scottish government spokesperson said ministers were “considering the simplest approach” for arrivals from France “as we glance to adopt a four nation approach on international travel, where possible”.
Wales said it might be following the change set by England, while Northern Ireland is yet to announce its intention.
