Travel news: Holiday scam warning following lockdown easing

From today, 17 May, international leisure travel is finally legal again in England. Jetting off on a foreign holiday is now possible under a traffic light system, with countries classified as green, amber or red and prescribed restrictions to match based on the risk of arrivals importing new coronavirus infections.

The government is currently advising that Britons should not be visiting amber or red countries for recreational purposes.

However, police and Action Fraud are warning that criminals may take advantage of the rush to get away by scamming holidaymakers. Social media sites like Facebook could be one potential attack vector, experts said.

The Independent’s travel team in a race to the sun to celebrate the easing of restrictions: our correspondent Simon Calder jetted off to Faro, Portugal, while travel editor Cathy Adams headed for Madeira (two of the few viable “green list” destinations). Deputy editor Helen Coffey, meanwhile, has decamped to a new hotel for the day.

Read more:

• What travel rules are in place from 17 May?

• Green, amber and red list countries: Latest travel rules

• Red list countries: All the high risk nations

• Amber list countries: The key holiday destinations