Mcb777 LoginHolidaymakers arrive home from Portugal with hours to spare but are 'ashamed to be British' as others are stranded | The Sun - Mcb777 APP

HOLIDAYMAKERS have arrived back home from amber-listed Portugal with just hours to spare - as some say they're "ashamed to be British."

Desperate Brits rushed home in a mad dash to return before 4am - with countless tourists snapped looking fed-up as they hurry home after shelling out for pricey plane seats.

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Passengers arriving in Manchester after catching the last flights back to the UK before Portugal joins the amber listCredit: Zenpix

The last flights from Portugal have arrived as Brits rushed home

A pair embrace as people jump on the last flights back to Britain before Portugal is taken off the green list

Brits rushed back to the UK in a bid to miss the quarantine

Brits flooded airports in Portugal yesterdayCredit: Rex

Families arriving into Heathrow yesterday evening

Tourists rushed back before Portugal was put on the amber travel listCredit: EPA

People arriving into Stanstead from Lisbon on the last flight from green-list PortugalCredit: The Sun

After 4am today, those returning from Portugal must isolate for 10 daysCredit: Rex

Anyone landing after 4am today then will have to quarantine for ten days — and spend hundreds of pounds on more Covid testing.

Brits who couldn't get seats on expensive flights home have been left in the lurch - while Portuguese businesses that rely on tourism face yet another blow.

The sunny European country was on the green travel list - meaning holidaymakers could freely fly for a holiday there without any need to quarantine.

But last week, the government announced Portugal would be moving onto the amber list, sparking a mad dash of people trying to get back without the need to isolate.

The decision was branded "atrocious" by the last passengers flying into Birmingham from the holiday hotspot before the quarantine deadline.

Bob Wallis, flying back from Madeira yesterday, said the last-minute change left him feeling "ashamed to be British".

Brits have escaped quarantine - and most likely cut their holiday shortCredit: Zenpix

Travellers arriving at Stanstead from Lisbon last nightCredit: The Sun

Portugal entered England's amber list at 4am this morningCredit: Zenpix

Weary travellers return to Manchester with only a few hours to spare before new rules come into forceCredit: Zenpix

Holidays have been cut short for manyCredit: Zenpix

He told the : "We were lucky. People arrived a day after us and they can't get back.

"I felt ashamed to be British out there at one point because all these guys are depending on British tourism and they were shocked that this happened."

Thousands have been forced to slash their holidays short, with airports in Portugal pictured packed out yesterday as Brits rushed home.

And with thousands landing back in the UK, Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports have been full to the brim with arrivals.

Despite Portugal making the criteria that government set out for a green list country - with low hospitalisations, daily deaths near zero and nearly all elderly citizens vaccinated - the country was taken off the green list just weeks after being added, due to the threat of new variants.

Brits have been caught in a mad rush to get home

Thousands of Brits have arrived back in the UK from PortugalCredit: The Sun

Many have been forced to cut their holidays shortCredit: The Sun

Passengers arriving back at Heathrow yesterday in a final mad dashCredit: Dan Charity / The Sun

Passengers from the last Portugal flight into Heathrow

Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa has slammed the UK for its removal from the list, telling reporters yesterday: "We can't have this system of instability and changes every three weeks.

"It isn't good for those who plan their holidays, nor for those who have to organise the tourism industry to receive tourists in good conditions."

It comes as flights from Portugal to the UK hit £784 yesterday as 100,000 Brits race home.

The 13 one-way flights from Faro, Algarve, to London yesterday averaged around six times more than the usual price.

Holidaymakers can expect to pay around £250 for a last minute flight home on Monday compared to between £30 and £55 every day for the rest of the week.

The 5.55pm BA flight to Heathrow only had only business-class seats costing £784 left. Other BA flights were much cheaper, but still far more expensive than average.

The cheapest flight of the last UK departures from Faro was the 6:40pm WizzAir trip to Luton, costing £136.

Holidaymakers who do not make it home in time for the deadline will have to quarantine for 10 days.

Brits travelling back from amber list countries are also required to take a pre-departure PCR Covid test and provide a negative result.

They will also have to pay for a further two tests on day two and eight of quarantine, adding £800 for a family of four.

The extra costs caused a last minute scramble for flights, with one mum telling The Sun the short notice rule change had cost her £1,000.

Meanwhile, a new study has revealed just 1.5 per cent of tourists have tested positive for Covid after returning from Portugal.

Brits have rushed home before Portugal is put on the amber list

Brits arriving from Portugal in the nick of timeCredit: Zenpix

People arriving to Heathrow yesterday evening

Holidaymakers who do not make it home in time for the deadline will have to quarantine for 10 days

Passengers looked exhausted as they made their way through the terminalCredit: Zenpix

The data, compiled by Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) for the government, found just three positive cases of Covid out of 200 travellers returning from Portugal between May 6 and May 19, .

The seven-day case rate in Portugal was also lower than the UK's during the study, with just 30.2 cases per 100,000, compared to the UK's 35.9.

At the weekend, Brits crammed into Faro airport in a bid to get home before the Tuesday deadline.

Long, snaking queues of tourists - who didn't appear to be social distancing - were snapped looking fed up as they waited to board planes in scorching 22C heat.

And one family feared they would become stuck in Portugal after being turned away from a hospital that ran of out Covid tests.

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Ahead of last week's announcement, it was hoped that holiday hotspots including the Spanish and Greek islands could be added to the quarantine-free travel list this week, opening up more destinations by June 7.

Instead, no new countries were added to the green list, while others, including Egypt and Sri Lanka, have been pushed into the red.