Foreign Office ‘Do Not Travel’ Warnings: Where They Apply Now

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office currently advises British nationals against all travel or all but essential travel to a range of countries and regions. These warnings are not entry bans, but they can affect travel insurance and the level of consular help available. FCDO says it uses them when risks are unacceptably high, including armed conflict, civil unrest, terrorism, disease outbreaks and natural disasters.

The strongest nationwide warning applies to Afghanistan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Iran, Mali, Niger, Russia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Risks differ by destination: detention in Iran, Belarus and Russia; terrorism and kidnapping in Afghanistan and the Sahel; armed violence in South Sudan; severe instability in Haiti; and conflict or terrorism in Syria and Yemen. Cuba and North Korea are under "all but essential travel" advice.

Where Only Part of the Country Is Affected

• Ukraine: most regions are red; five western regions are amber, while Volyn, Rivne and Zhytomyr are amber only beyond 50km from Belarus.
• Thailand and Cambodia: southern Thailand has separate warnings for Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four Songkhla districts because of regular attacks. FCDO also advises against all but essential travel within 20km of the Thailand-Cambodia land border on both sides, where crossings remain suspended and landmines and unexploded ordnance remain a risk.

• Turkey: avoid travel within 10km of Syria because of fighting and terrorism.
• Mexico: warnings cover Tijuana and Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas because of organised crime.

Before booking, check the FCDO page for your destination and compare the warning map with your full itinerary, not just the city where you plan to stay. A resort may sit outside a restricted zone while the road, rail route or border crossing used to reach it does not. Travellers should also check insurance wording before paying and sign up for FCDO email alerts, as advice can change without a fixed timetable.

A warning does not automatically cancel a flight, hotel or tour. If FCDO advice changes after booking, contact the airline, tour operator or travel agent before cancelling yourself, then speak to the insurer. GOV UK says insurance may be invalidated when travelling against FCDO advice. Package-holiday customers can have refund rights where unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances significantly affect the destination, its immediate vicinity or travel there.