Simon Calder’s ‘Ask me Anything’: the Independent’s Travel Correspondent will answer your questions live

From last Sunday, the UK’s green list for international travel got seven shiny new additions: Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway.

The amber list was considerably bolstered too, by new entrants India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. Alongside updated rules that allow travellers fully vaccinated in the UK, EU or US to swerve quarantine when entering the United Kingdom, it means that holiday possibilities are slowly but surely broadening as the summer’s end draws ever closer.

This seems to be reflected by Europe’s biggest holiday company’s results; Anglo-German giant Tui is claiming to have made a “successful restart of business activities”, although the UK is lagging behind continental Europe.

The tour operator says it expects to provide 4.2 million holidays during the summer – with 1.5 million booked since May.

The most popular destinations are Spain’s Balearic Islands, particularly Mallorca, and the Greek islands – led by Crete and Rhodes. Capacity for summer 2021 will be 60 per cent of 2019 levels, though significantly lower for the UK market.

So, is it finally safe to book a holiday? Join me at 4pm today, 12 August, when I’ll be on hand to answer your travel questions about all the latest rules and restrictions.

Register to submit your question in the Comments below. If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the Comments box to leave your question.

Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they will be hidden until I join the conversation to answer them.

Then join us live on this page from 4-5pm as I tackle as many questions as I can within an hour.