Boris Johnson's lockdown roadmap: foreign holidays and the travel traffic light system

"We have seen how the story goes, we still don't know the vaccine shield will be", the British PM said, adding,"Please get your vaccine when your turn comes".

Under the traffic light system, assessments will be based on a range of factors, including the proportion of a country's population which has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants and the country's access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.

Here is what he revealed and what he confirmed on the traffic light system and how it will work.

"The government hopes people will be able to travel to and from the United Kingdom to take a summer holiday this year, but it is still too soon to know what is possible", it said in an official update.

Tanzer added: "Destinations should not be suddenly closed off unless variants of concern dictate that this must happen".

Johnson said the easing of restrictions was "fully justified by the data".

Tanzer pointed to Abta research which suggests 63% of people hope to book a holiday overseas and urged them to book package holidays for "the best level of protection should circumstances change".

Airlines UK welcomed the removal of self-isolation for arrivals from green countries.

Heathrow Airport chief executive John Holland-Kaye claimed "the opportunity has been missed to provide more certainty", while trade body the Business Travel Association described the update as "beyond disappointing".

"Taking into account the latest situation with (coronavirus) variants and the evidence about the efficacy of vaccines against them, we will confirm in advance whether non-essential global travel can resume on 17th May, or whether we will need to wait longer before lifting the outbound travel restriction", a government review said. People arriving from "green" countries will have to be tested but won't face quarantine.

Mr Johnson said: "On Covid status certification, as we prefer to call it, the most important thing to say to everybody listening and watching is there's absolutely no question of people being asked to produce certification or a Covid status report when they go to the shops or to the pub garden or to their hairdressers or whatever on Monday".

What will I need to do to travel? This has once again been kicked down the road.

Britons are among Europe's highest spending tourists so the fortunes of the continent's summer season and the travel industry, hit hard by restrictions imposed on travel because of the Covid-19 pandemic, will depend on when tourists can return to the beaches, cafes and tavernas of southern Europe.

Four weeks after England took its first step out of lockdown by reopening schools, Johnson said Britain's vaccination program was proceeding well and infections were falling.

She said the sector needs a "four nations approach" to restarting worldwide travel in a "phased return" and said not only holidaymakers but those visiting relatives overseas were affected. Dooey stressed: "This is not all about sun, sangria and suntans" and said the resumption of operations was "critical" to the economies of Scotland and the UK. "Moreover, this should be an internationally-agreed system".

So-called "vaccine passports" are also set to be trialed for mass events.

That taskforce is being led by Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary.