Quarantine form needed for travel to UK from today
Anyone arriving in the UK from other countries such as France must as of today have already completed a quarantine form to show on arrival and they must go into self-isolation.
This includes Britons returning from holidays abroad as well as others making a trip from abroad to the UK.
The form can either be a print-out, or a digital version on your phone.
The quarantine form can be completed online at the www.gov.uk website no more than 48-hours before you are due to travel (scroll to the bottom of the page and click 'start now').
If you do not comply you could be fined up to £100 and may be refused entry to the country.
You will be required to self-isolate for 14 days, or the whole trip if for less than this, and checks may be made with fines up to £1,000 potentially being levied if you are found to be breaking the rules.
This coincides with France, in a tit-for-tat measure, now requesting that those who arrive from the UK should ‘voluntarily’ go into a 14-day quarantine, meaning a trip to the UK and back could involve a month in self-isolation if observing the rules.
Airlines are angry after they said details of the UK's quarantine form system were only revealed to them on Friday, leaving little time to prepare passengers.
British Airways’ parent company IAG stated it was investigating possibilities for last-minute legal action to stop the requirements being put in place and Ryanair also said it would support such action.
IAG’s chief executive Willie Walsh described the quarantine as “irrational and disproportionate” and has said it would harm the aviation industry.
Industry body Airlines UK is also pressing for ‘air bridges’ to be put in place allowing quarantine-free travel to and from designated countries deemed low risk.
The quarantine rules are to be reviewed after three weeks.
France’s Tourism Minster Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne has encouraged Britons to book holidays in France for this summer despite the measures, as he said he hopes the quarantine rules will no longer be in force on either side by July.
"Lifting this quarantine by the end of June would be very beneficial both for the British and French, allowing us to re-establish connectivity between the two countries and mutual movement," he told journalists.
Mr Lemoyne has also expressed himself in favour of free movement within Europe by the second half of June, though an official end date for the requirement of an international travel attestation to enter France (giving one of a small number of reasons, not including tourism) has not yet been confirmed. So far the UK has been included within the 'internal' borders of Europe for purposes of travel restrictions.
Some 13 million Britons visit France each year staying at least one night, not including day-trippers, the largest single visiting nationality.
To complete the UK’s form you will need:
- Your passport details
- The name of your airline, train or ferry company
- The company organising your holiday if travelling in a tour
- Booking reference
- Arrival date
- Flight, train, bus or ferry number
- Address where you will stay in the first 14 days
- Details of a contact who can be informed if you fall ill in the UK
Each adult who is travelling into the UK, with limited exceptions such as certain professional reasons, or arriving from Ireland or the Channel Islands, should complete their own form, though under-18s travelling with you can be added onto your own form if they are both travelling with you and staying at the same UK address.
More on UK-France travel quarantine rules
UK clarifies 14-day quarantine rules
Travellers UK to France: 14-day voluntary quarantine
UK-France quarantine plans ‘absurd’ says senator (Subscriber-extra)
No reason for travel limits in Europe after June – EU (Subscriber-extra)
