Chaos for sunseekers amid doubts over Greece, France, Spain and Italy

Sunseeker are facing chaos today as Greece threatens a crackdown over spiking cases on islands, ministers 'tie themselves in knots' over France quarantine, Spain looks on the verge of tougher curbs - and Italy is refusing to exempt Brits from self-isolation. 

Hopes of escaping the dismal weather have been dealt more blows with doubts raised about some of the most popular destinations. Ministers are effectively warning the public they must get used to confusion and uncertainty, amid a patchwork of ever-shifting rules at home and internationally. 

In an extraordinary public volte face, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was sent out to contract a claim from Dominic Raab that France was hit with 'amber plus' quarantine rules because of Covid cases on Reunion island 6,000 miles away.

The suggestion sparked a furious reaction from Paris, with an ally of Emmanuel Macron raging that the UK position is discriminatory and 'baffling'. Another French MP branded the policy 'Kafka on holiday with Godot' - as critics pointed out that bizarrely Reunion itself is not covered by the upgraded controls. 

Meanwhile, Spain is believed to be at risk of being moved up the 'traffic light' system in a review next week, even as double-jabbed travellers from the rest of the EU and the US are due to be exempted from quarantine.

Greece is also voicing alarm at soaring cases on popular islands such as Rhodes, Santorini and Mykonos, with Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias warning it is 'one step' away from authorities imposing restrictions. He said the situation was also worrying on the islands of Zakynthos, Tinos, and Paros. 

As tensions rise, Italy has announced it will not reciprocate the get-out granted by the UK to visitors. Vaccinated holidaymakers will still need to isolate for five days on arrival, until at least August 30. 

There are claims that EU leaders are resisting easing rules for Britons partly out of 'frustration' with the standoff over Brexit. 

The chaos is such that Britons appear to be giving up on going away. An exclusive poll for MailOnline has found that just 14 per cent are intending to travel abroad for a summer holiday this year. 

Travel experts have also criticised the UK's  frequently-changing traffic light system, saying it needs to be 'scrapped' .

Paul Charles, CEO of The PC Agency travel consultancy, told MailOnline: 'Even government ministers are disagreeing with themselves over how to apply their own traffic light rules. The system is a complete mess.

'No-one apart from ministers seems to have confidence in how red, amber or green countries are chosen. The data is opaque, the explanations lacking. 

'Those fully-jabbed should be given the freedom to decide their own level of risk, as US citizens are.

'The Prime Minister wanted to give people back their freedom – it's time he stuck to his word when it comes to travel.'

In other coronavirus developments today:

The decision on France two weeks ago led to thousands of fully-vaccinated holidaymakers having to self-isolate for ten days on their return.

The diplomatic spat escalated over recent days after the country was excluded from a UK quarantine exemption for travellers who have been double-jabbed in the EU.   

French Europe minister Clement Beaune yesterday branded the UK's stance towards his country 'excessive and frankly baffling'.

'If I understood correctly, this is being done in the name of the famous Beta variant, the South African variant, which represents less than 5 per cent of cases in France, most of which are in our overseas territories that are not affected by the same flows of people towards the UK,' he said.

In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Shapps said the decision had been down to 'overall concern' about France, not the situation on Reunion. 

'The Beta variant, it's not just – as has been reported – on an island thousands of miles away. It was also an issue in particular in northern France, so it has been an overall concern,' he told Sky News.

'And look, the big concern is that we don't allow a variant in which somehow is able to escape the vaccine programme that we have got.'

Mr Shapps said a decision on France's status will be taken 'by this time next week' as part of the regular travel list update every three weeks.

Asked if there could be a change before then, the minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'No, it's only six days away actually, so I wouldn't expect anything in advance of that, but it is the moment at which this will be looked at.'

Pushed on whether that meant no move on Spain before then, Mr Shapps said: 'That's right. I would encourage people to broadly ignore the sort of ongoing speculation as much as is possible.'

He added: 'One thing I have seen over the last year with all this going on is that, quite often, the speculation is not all that helpful, or all that accurate indeed.

'When we get the information from the Joint Biosecurity Centre, that's the first point at which it really becomes clarified.'

A senior government source also slapped down Mr Raab, insisting that he had been wrong.

The source said: 'Ministers took this decision based on data on the prevalence of the Beta variant in mainland France.' They added: 'This data did not include La Reunion.'

Mr Raab's comments led to fresh criticism of the Government's decision, which many are hoping will be reversed next week. 

Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said: 'Ministers appear to be tying themselves in knots trying to explain their decision. If they misinterpreted the data over cases in mainland France they need to come clean and

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