Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford has ‘strongly’ advised residents to holiday at home this summer as he confirmed fully-vaccinated arrivals from amber countries will no longer need to self-isolate from 19 July.

He said he ‘much regretted’ the decision of the UK Government to remove the requirement for doubly-vaccinated travellers returning from amber destinations to quarantine at home.

He told the Welsh Parliament: “The risk of reimportation of coronavirus from other parts of the world, and especially new variants, has not gone away.

“The removal of a defence against that risk and especially at a time when the virus is in such rapid circulation is very difficult to understand.

“But because the vast majority of international travel to and from Wales is via England, it is, as our chief medical officer says, untenable for us not to do the same thing.”

He said there would be no need for fully-vaccinated adults and those under 18 to self-isolate from 19 July, but added: “We continue to advise against all non-essential travel abroad and we continue to strongly recommend people holiday at home this summer.”