Germany is now allowing British visitors back into the country, overturning the rule it introduced before Christmas, which declared the UK an area of COVID concern and temporarily banned entry.

The UK has been reclassified as a ‘high-risk area by Germany’, according to updated Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advice.

The FCDO said: “From 23:00 GMT on 3 January 2022 the UK is designated a high-risk area. You may enter Germany from the UK for any travel purpose if you are fully vaccinated.

“This means that travellers arriving from the UK, who are not fully vaccinated, are subject to 10-day quarantine, and test and release is available after 5 days.

“Fully vaccinated and recovered individuals are exempt from this requirement, once they have uploaded their proof of status on the pre-departure digital registration portal.

All permitted travellers aged six or over from the UK arriving in Germany need either a negative PCR test result that is no more than 48 hours old at the point of departure, if travelling to Germany via plane, train, bus or ferry.

“If you are travelling independently, such as in a car, the PCR test can only be 48 hours old at entry into Germany. The result of the test required by the authorities can be either in paper or electronic form in German, English, French, Italian, or Spanish.”