A Mid Wales scientist who is guiding the UK’s Covid response says he believes people may still be able to go on foreign holidays this year if infection levels stay on the same trend.

Prof Neil Ferguson, who grew up in Llanidloes and attended the town’s high school, works at from Imperial College London where his modelling work informs government scientists.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Prof Ferguson, who is an epidemiologist, said that he believed summer holidays abroad to parts of Europe may be attainable this year.

He said: ’I think if for instance, by the summer, infection levels in France and Italy are the same sort of level as they are here, then there’s no risk associated with travelling overseas.

“The risk comes from going from a place like the UK with very low infection levels and going to a place with much higher infection levels and therefore having the risk of bringing infection back.

“If the two places are at comparable levels, and that’s what the EU is saying, then there is no particular risks associated with travel.’

The government’s ’green list’ of countries to which people can travel without having to isolate for 14 days on their return is expected to be released this week, although it is understood details are still being finalised.

Prof Ferguson also praised the rollout of jabs across the UK - but issued a warning too.

He added: “The period we still have concerns about, but they are diminishing is really late summer early autumn.

"If we are going to see another wave of transmission that’s where it would take place, but the new data on vaccines coming out is evermore encouraging.

"Particularly the data that was released about the fact that even if you do get infected if you’ve been vaccinated then you are less infectious.”

Prof Ferguson said the risk of vaccines being less effective in the face of variants was "the major concern" that could still lead to a "very major third wave in the autumn" adding that it was "much better to be vaccinating people than shutting down the whole of society".

He also said that he was "feeling fairly optimistic that we will be not completely back to normal, but something which feels a lot more normal by the summer".