His comments come as travellers scramble to return to the UK from Portugal after the country was placed on the amber list on Tuesday morning (8 June).

There are now only 11 countries on the green list – including Brunei, Gibraltar, Iceland and Singapore.

The government is currently discouraging people from travelling to amber and red list destinations for leisure.

Boland told the Press Association: "Passengers trying to leave Portugal before quarantine requirements come into effect will be wondering why more notice wasn’t given, such as making use of the green watch list, to prevent tens of thousands of people now scrambling to get home."

George Eustice, environment secretary, urged Brits to holiday at home for a second successive summer owing to the pandemic.

Eustice told Sky News on Tuesday morning (8 June) his advice would be to take a break in the UK this summer.

"Between flights selling out, expensive fares, and difficulties obtaining tests in time, it’s clear the government’s current approach to managing the changing situation around travel is flawed," added Boland.

"These issues must be addressed before the next green list review, to prevent another disastrous summer for travel."

Health secretary Matt Hancock further condemned a return to international travel this summer after saying there will be no expansion of the green list "in the medium term" in a bid to protect domestic freedoms, reports The Telegraph.