Each country page has sections on warnings and insurance, entry requirements, safety and security, health and getting help. Pages show when they were last updated and anyone can sign up for email alerts. The entry requirements are written for people travelling on a full British citizen passport.

Advice against travel

• The FCDO sometimes formally advises against ‘all travel’ (shown red on its maps) or ‘all but essential travel’ (amber), for a whole country or part of one.

• It says it does this only when the risk to British nationals is unacceptably high, for example because of armed conflict, civil unrest, disease outbreaks or natural disasters.

• The FCDO says it does not decide when travel can take place. Only the traveller and their travel company can decide to cancel or change a booking.

Why it matters for package holidays

Government guidance on the Package Travel Regulations says many travellers, travel companies and insurers use FCDO advice as a rule of thumb when judging whether unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances exist at a destination. The guidance calls the advice a critical consideration but not the only one. It says the circumstances of individual travellers may also count. Where such circumstances at or near the destination significantly affect a package holiday or the journey there, the traveller can cancel before departure without a termination fee and get a full refund.

Insurance

GOV.UK says travel insurance could be invalidated if someone travels against FCDO advice. It adds that some policies may allow a claim when a trip is cancelled because the advice changes. Only the insurer can decide whether to accept a claim. Earlier versions of the advice are archived on the National Archives website.