An update on the UK’s traffic light regime from transport secretary Grant Shapps, who will address the Commons on Thursday morning (24 June), is expected this afternoon.

However, any additions to the green list will have to be signed off by the government’s Covid-O operations committee, which early this month insisted on removing Portugal from the green list – and reportedly blocked Malta being added.

Citing a senior government source, The Guardian said it was "highly likely" there would be a limited number of additions to the green list,  providing there was no last-minute "alarming" data.

Malta is among a handful of destinations to which the Foreign Office is currently not advising against all but essential travel on Covid grounds. Others include the Canary Islands and several Greek islands, including Rhodes, Kos, Zakynthos, Corfu and Crete.

The BBC also reports the rules on foreign travel are likely to be reviewed on Thursday following pressure from the industry at Travel Day of Action on Wednesday (23 June).

However, The Times reports the UK’s hopes could be dampened by a call from German chancellor Angela Merkel for the EU to introduce mandatory quarantine for UK visitors owing to the Delta variant.

Besides any changes to the green and amber lists, the government’s traffic light system is due its first formal review on Monday (28 June), which would look at changing the policy itself rather than just country categorisation.

Health secretary Matt Hancock earlier this week hinted at a plan to ease the country’s quarantine rules for amber list arrivals, potentially removing the current 10-day self-isolation requirement for those fully vaccinated against Covid-19, although this may not take effect until August – if confirmed.