Lifestyle Trend: Foreign Office issues travel alert for 16 countries today amid ‘serious concerns’ You Should Know

Popular holiday destinations including Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt have been named in the alert due to heightened regional tensions

The Foreign Office has issued an urgent travel alert this morning for 16 countries, citing serious concerns. The warning comes in light of developments in a region frequented by hundreds of thousands of UK tourists annually.

The new alert highlights popular holiday destinations such as Turkey, Dubai, Cyprus and Egypt, with officials advising travellers to ‘take extra precautions. ‘.

This follows Iran’s sudden closure of its airspace to commercial flights early on Thursday without any given explanation, amidst ongoing tensions with the United States over Tehran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests.

The closure, which lasted for over four hours according to pilot guidance issued by Iran, affected a crucial East-West flight route.

International carriers were forced to divert north and south around Iran. However, after one extension, the closure seemed to have ended with several domestic flights airborne just after 7am local time, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Iran has previously closed its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June and during exchanges of fire with Israel in the Israel-Hamas war. Yet, there are no indications of current hostilities.

“Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” stated the website SafeAirspace, a resource providing information on conflict zones and air travel.

“The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”

Concerns are mounting that potential military action by President Trump against the Iranian regime could trigger wider escalation throughout the region, sparking violence and causing significant travel disruption.

In today’s updated alert, the Foreign Office warned: “There is a heightened risk of regional tension. Escalation could lead to travel disruption and other unanticipated impacts. Escalation could lead to travel disruption and other unanticipated impacts.

“British nationals should take sensible precautions, considering their own individual circumstances.”

Full list of countries in alert:

• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen
• Syria
• Saudi Arabia
• Qatar
• Oman
• Libya
• Lebanon
• Kuwait
• Jordan
• Iraq
• Egypt
• Cyprus
• Bahrain
• Iran

Iran has previously mistaken civilian aircraft for military threats. In 2020, Iranian air defences shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 using two surface-to-air missiles, resulting in the deaths of all 176 passengers and crew.

For several days, Iran strongly rejected claims it had downed the aircraft, dismissing them as Western propaganda, before eventually admitting responsibility.

The airspace restrictions were implemented as certain staff at a major US military installation in Qatar were told to evacuate. Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Kuwait has instructed its personnel to “temporary halt” visits to several military facilities across the small Gulf state.

US President Donald Trump issued a series of ambiguous statements on Wednesday, leaving uncertainty over whether America would take action against Iran.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Trump claimed he had been informed that planned executions in Iran had been halted, though he offered little detail.

The change in approach follows Mr Trump’s message to Iranian protesters the previous day, declaring that “help is on the way” and his administration would “act accordingly” in response to the Islamic Republic’s brutal suppression.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi also attempted to dial back tensions, encouraging the US to pursue a diplomatic resolution.

When Fox News asked what he would tell Mr Trump, Mr Araghchi responded: “My message is: Between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don’t have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war.”

The softer rhetoric from both Washington and Tehran emerged just hours after Iran’s judiciary chief stated the government must swiftly punish the thousands who have been arrested.

Campaigners cautioned that executions of detainees could be imminent. The brutal response by security forces to the demonstrations has claimed at least 2,615 lives, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

The fatality count surpasses any previous wave of protest or civil disorder in Iran in recent decades and evokes memories of the turmoil during the nation’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.