Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, Portugal is expected to be moved from the green to the amber list from next week.

So what are the rules currently in place for those travelling - or living - there?

Face coverings must be worn in public, but aren't required while sunbathing or swimming.

Other measures include:

• Restaurants/pavement cafes can seat six together indoors (10 outdoors) and must close at 22:30
• Bars and nightclubs remain closed
• Shops shut at 21:00 on weekdays and 19:00 at weekends
• Beaches have one-way systems, sunshades and towels should be three metres apart
• People are advised to check beach-occupancy levels , externaland avoid "red" and "amber" ones
• Golf courses, museums and art galleries are open
• Public transport is limited to two-thirds capacity
• There are fines of up to €100 (£86) if you breach regulations.

Read more about what other rules are in place here.

Caroline Davies
Transport correspondent

Seven places are set to be added to the UK's foreign travel red list this afternoon. They are:

• Afghanistan
• Bahrain
• Costa Rica
• Egypt
• Sudan
• Trinidad and Tobago

• Sri Lanka

Will my trip to Portugal in August be cancelled?published at 15:10 British Summer Time 3 June 2021

15:10 BST 3 June 2021

Image source, AFP

The expectation that Portugal will be moved from the green list to the amber list has thrown up a lot of questions and we've been working to answer some of them for you.

Bryan Cooper from Dunfermline asks: "I'm due to go to Portugal in August, should I continue planning the trip, or will the provider cancel the holiday first?"

Travel author and consumer expert Jane Hawkes says: "What you need to do is make sure that you are very much aware of the implications of going to your destination of choice.

"Whatever list it's on now it could change... so you need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. You need to be prepared to have that quarantine period when you get home.

"There's a whole host of hits that you have to be prepared to take in order to have a successful trip."

Here's a reminder of the rules for green, amber and red countries.

Mark Broad
Online and Today business editor

Shares in airlines and travel companies have fallen after we reported that Portugal is set to be removed from the UK government's green list and added to the amber list.

IAG, the parent company of British Airways, is down 5%. Easyjet and Jet2 are both down 5%, while Ryanair is down 2.6% and Tui down 3%.

The travel industry had been hoping that more destinations were going to be added to the green list, but the government is set to confirm that no new countries or territories are being added to the lowest of the traffic light bands.

The prime minister has tweeted in celebration as the UK reaches the milestone of half of all adults being fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Boris Johnson has tweeted a video to thank all those involved in the vaccine rollout and to urge them to "keep going".

He says: "Let's get the jab done and get back to doing the things we love."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has also tweeted, external a "massive thank you to everyone working together in our huge national effort".

Half of UK adults have received two doses of a coronavirus jab, the vaccines minister has announced.

Nadhim Zahawi has tweeted about the "important milestone" and thanked the "brilliant team".

People who have received both doses have the highest level of protection available from serious illness caused by Covid-19.

It comes a day after Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced 75% people of UK adults had received a first dose.

Image source, EPA

Meanwhile, in the US, President Joe Biden has announced a “month of action” to encourage more Americans to get vaccinated before the 4 July national holiday.

Among the measures announced on Wednesday, external were free childcare for parents while getting vaccinated and recruiting 1,000 black-owned barbershops and beauty salons to support the vaccination drive.

Anheuser-Busch will also give away free beer to all adults over the age of 21 on 4 July, once the goal of getting 70% of all US adults to be at least partially vaccinated in time for Independence Day has been reached.

Vice-President Kamala Harris and First Lady Jill Biden will also embark on a “We Can Do This” vaccination tour to encourage people to get jabs.

“The more people we get vaccinated, the more success we’re going to have in the fight against this virus,” Mr Biden said at the White House.

He predicted that with more jabs, the US would soon experience “a summer of freedom, a summer of joy, a summer of get-togethers and celebrations. An All-American summer".

Image source, PA Media

In Scotland earlier, Nicola Sturgeon was answering First Minister's Questions at Holyrood, with Covid measures among the topics under discussion.

Labour's Anas Sarwar pointed out that 47,000 fans attended a European football match in Glasgow on 12 March 2020 and at the time the Scottish government said “stopping mass gathering was not the best way to contain the virus”.

He also pointed out that untested patients were sent into care homes, and one in 10 care home patients died.

“I take responsibility for those decisions and I will live with them for as long as I live,” Nicola Sturgeon said, adding the government acted in light of the information it had at the time.

Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross asked if the first minister had confidence in the Scottish Qualifications Authority following last summer's exams chaos.

Sturgeon says she does, but Ross accuses her of being "in denial".

The first minister replies it is her duty to persuade pupils and parents that while no government can take away the impact of Covid, the government is doing "everything it can in a highly challenging set of circumstances" to deliver fairness.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

If Portugal is moved from the green list to the amber list this afternoon, then the changes would take effect from Tuesday morning. So there is a bit of time for those who are in Portugal to get back.

But it would mean those who return after 8 June would be required to self-isolate at home for 10 days.

It's really terrible news for many people - plus we aren't expecting any countries to be added to the green list.

It all points to a really uncertain summer where international travel is really precarious.

Image source, PA Media

With news that Portugal looks set to be removed from England's green list for travel you may be wondering what the coronavirus situation is there right now - especially given that Portugal was cleared for holidays just last month.

Yesterday the country confirmed a further 724 cases of coronavirus and one further death.

That compares to 4,430 confirmed cases across the UK on the same day, but Portugal has a far smaller population - with around 10.17 million people compared to 66.8 million in the UK.

Portugal's seven-day average for new cases is 3,828 compared with the UK's 25,240.

According to Johns Hopkins University nearly 20% of the Portuguese population has been fully vaccinated, compared to nearly 50% in the UK.

Image source, Getty Images

The Caribbean island of Grenada not making the UK’s green list today is a "huge blow for holidaymakers and the travel and tourism sectors", its minister for tourism says.

Dr Clarice Modeste Curwen says there have been just 161 Covid cases since the start of the pandemic and no new cases since February.

She says the country has seen no imported cases after welcoming back overseas travellers and 65% of visitors were vaccinated before arrival.

She says no resources had been spared in putting in a "stringent, rigorous and successful programme to control any spread of the virus".

She says 90% of hotel workers have been vaccinated and regular genomic sequencing is carried out to check for variants.

Portugal to be taken off green listpublished at 13:45 British Summer Time 3 June 2021

13:45 BST 3 June 2021Breaking

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

It’s understood Portugal is being removed from the green list and will be added to the amber list from Tuesday. It follows a meeting this morning between the UK and devolved governments and advice from the joint biosecurity centre. Sources tell me this decision will be announced later.

Image source, EPA

We are not expecting any further countries to be added to the UK's green list for foreign travel.

But we are waiting to hear later if Portugal will be taken off it, which could be the day's biggest news development given how many British holidaymakers are making plans to head there this summer. If Portugal is recategorised, it would leave Iceland, external as the only country on the green list that is accepting UK tourists.

Green list travel means you can go there on holiday but must:

• take a Covid-19 test, external before departure and have proof of a negative result
• book a test for day two after your return, external
• complete a passenger locator form, external

You do not need to quarantine unless your day two test is positive, or NHS Test & Trace says you have travelled with someone who tested positive.

You will need to pay for a private PCR test from one of the government's list of approved UK providers, external. Prices are falling, but will cost you about £60, external per person for each test.

Amber and red lists

Most countries are on the amber list, external so travel there is legal but the government has advised against it except in "exceptional circumstances" - and do not count holidays among those reason

Red list countries are high risk and should not be visited "except in the most extreme of circumstances", the government says. If you do go there, you can expect to pay for a stay in a vaccination hotel on your return. You can find all the rules here.

The government bases its decision which category (green, amber or red) to place each country on advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC).

That body produces a risk assessment based on factors, external including Covid variant transmission risk, testing rates and proportions of positive cases, and genomic sequencing capability.

Ministers then make a decision based on this risk assessment alongside other public health considerations.

The lists will be updated every three weeks based on continuous monitoring of the data. Today is the first update since the lists were announced.

There had been some speculation that Greek and Spanish islands could be added to the green list as well as Malta, Finland and parts of the Caribbean - but the government insisted we've got to remain cautious.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC: "We've got to protect the progress that we've made here at home whilst of course allowing for travel when it's safe to do so. We've got to follow the data."

No countries added to green listpublished at 12:50 British Summer Time 3 June 2021

12:50 BST 3 June 2021Breaking

Caroline Davies
Transport correspondent

No more countries or territories will be added to the UK's foreign travel green list today, the BBC understands.

It is still possible that some countries will be removed from the green list.

There is also a strong expectation that there will be additions to the red list.

The full list of countries in the traffic light system is expected to be announced later.

Image source, Getty Images

UK rail passenger numbers in 2020-21 reached the lowest level in at least 150 years, new figures show.

Just 388 million journeys were made in the 12 months to the end of March as the coronavirus pandemic saw demand for travel collapse, regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) says.

This is just 22% of the total of 1.739 billion during the previous year and is the lowest annual figure in records dating back to 1872.

The period between April and June 2020 saw the lowest demand for train travel, with just 35 million journeys made.

Passenger revenue in 2020-21 totalled £1.9bn, just 18% of the £10.4bn figure generated 12 months earlier.

However, estimates by the Department for Transport show rail usage has recovered to about 45% of pre-Covid levels by the end of May 2021.

What's the risk of Covid on public transport?

Image source, PA Medoa

A hoped for boost to High Street footfall due to the return of indoor dining last month was not seen amid record May rain, data shows.

Analysis by Springboard shows footfall was 27.5% lower compared with pre-pandemic May 2019.

The hospitality industry in England reopened indoors on 17 May.

But while footfall improved from April, activity was "muted" by the weather and a limit on dining numbers.

At present, only groups of up to six people or a larger gathering of two households are allowed inside hospitality venues.

Springboard's insights director Diane Wehrle says: "Firstly, May was the wettest on record, which inevitably lowered the initial exhilaration of consumers in being able to eat out, as even visiting indoor environments necessitated braving the weather.

"Secondly, the limitations on dining capacity in indoor venues inevitably means that the uplift in footfall generated has been limited."

The number of people in England going for PCR Covid tests is the highest it's been in two months, Test and Trace figures show.

One million PCR tests were taken in the week to 26 May. This is the highest total since the week to 24 March - and is up 3% on the previous week.

PCR tests are swabs taken at a testing centre rather than at home. They are processed in a laboratory, and are used mainly for anyone who has Covid-19 symptoms and to confirm a positive rapid test result.

Image source, Getty Images

Thousands of private emails from US infectious disease chief Dr Anthony Fauci have revealed the concern and confusion at the start of the pandemic. So what did we learn from them?

A National Institutes of Health specialist with a career spanning seven US presidents, Dr Fauci, 80, became the face of the nation's Covid-19 response and has since been the subject of both effusive praise and ferocious criticism.

The more than 3,000 pages of emails, obtained by the Washington Post, Buzzfeed News and CNN through Freedom of Information Act requests, date from January to June 2020.

His conversations offer a glimpse into the early days of the US Covid outbreak and his dealings with the government, foreign and domestic health officials, the media, celebrities and everyday Americans.

• The face of America's fight against Covid-19