First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged Scots to not holiday abroad during the October break due to the increase of coronavirus cases in the country.
With Poland and Turkey now on the self-quarantine list as of 4am tomorrow, many holiday-makers are now facing a scramble to get home.
Ms Sturgeon previously said the two-week break should not been seen as an opportunity to venture abroad, given the quick-changing scenario.
She said: “Please think of the October break as an opportunity to further limit social interaction.
“And, given that this is a global pandemic, please do not book travel overseas for the October break if it is not essential.”
There are currently only 42 countries and territories you can travel to without self-isolating on your return, with Poland and Turkey the latest to be removed from this last night.
This list is a very volatile one, with countries added and removed every week.
So if you do fancy a holiday abroad, you must be prepared to potentially quarantine for two weeks after you get back to the country.
The full list of countries and territories you can visit safely at the moment are:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- Barbados
- Brunei
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- Estonia
- Faroe Islands
- Fiji
- Finland
- Germany
- Greenland
- Grenada
- Hong Kong
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Mauritius
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Norway
- San Marino
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- St Barthélemy
- St Kitts & Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Pierre and Miquelon
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- South Korea
- Sweden
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Vatican City State
- Vietnam
Before you travel to Scotland from any of the countries not listed above you need to complete a passenger locator form, available on the Scottish Government website.
In it, you will provide your journey, contact details and the address where you will self-isolate.
Every person arriving into Scotland must complete the form and provide evidence of doing this on arrival if requested to do so by a Border Force official.
You can be fined £60 if you do not complete it, and this can be doubled for each subsequent offence up to £480.
The trouble with airlines
The quarantine list has had a huge effect on airlines and airports across the UK.
Job cuts have been mooted for airports in Scotland, with Edinburgh Airport making a third of their 750 strong work-force redundant.
Irish airline Ryanair took the Irish Government to court, challenging their country’s travel restrictions.
They claimed that the travel restrictions were “unlawful” and that what had been published by the Government went “well beyond mere travel advice” and represented the “imposition of restrictions on international travel”.
However, Ryanair has today lost the case in the High Court, with a judge ruling that “the government acted lawfully in providing travel advice and public health advice in respect of the coronavirus pandemic on a non-statutory basis.
“The government is entitled, in the exercise of the executive power, to provide such advice to the public.”