Can I use an NHS test on holiday to get into the UK?

Simon Calder answers your questions on Covid tests, travelling to Israel and whether there’s a solution to railway chaos

Many Britons are booking holidays to the Algarve and other regions of Portugal (iStock)

Q I’ve booked to travel to the Algarve on 2 June. Can I take an NHS lateral flow test with me to use as the entry requirements on my return to the UK, or must I go to a Portuguese clinic? It seems ridiculous if I need to go to a clinic when I am using the lateral flow test in the UK to test twice a week.

Julie W

A You are one of the many tens of thousands of pioneering holidaymakers who will be travelling to Portugal in the first few weeks of the new “green list”, which takes effect next Monday 17 May. Portugal is the only mainstream summer-sun destination on the UK government’s list of nations from which no quarantine is required; while Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are included, they have no plans to let us visit. Other locations, such as the Faroes, are accessible only via amber countries, which would trigger 10 days in self-isolation when you return home.