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Travel News · 12 min read · Updated July 30, 2026

Is it safe to fly right now? An honest guide for UK holidaymakers

If you've seen the news about the Iran conflict, or the wildfires burning in parts of France and Spain, and started worrying about your holiday, this page is for you. We'll tell you exactly what's affected, what isn't, and what the official advice actually means in plain English.

Short on time? Let us summarise this guide for you.

There are two separate situations affecting UK holidays right now, and neither should put you off travel to most destinations. The Iran conflict, now five months old, has settled into a pattern of ceasefires that break down and get renegotiated; fighting most recently flared in early July and has paused again since 27 July, though it remains fragile. Its effect on holidaymakers is concentrated in the Gulf, Iran, Israel and Lebanon, not in mainstream European destinations. Separately, a heatwave has driven serious wildfires in southwest France (around Bordeaux and Gironde) and near Madrid in Spain, forcing evacuations in both countries, but leaving the rest of France and Spain, including their main holiday regions, untouched. For Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, most of France, Malta, Cyprus, Turkey and the wider Mediterranean, holidays are going ahead as normal. If you're booked to the Gulf, or to Gironde or the Madrid area specifically, check your operator and the live FCDO or local prefecture advice before you travel.

What you'll find in this guide:

The honest answer

Five months on from the start of the Iran conflict, the picture has become more complicated, not less. What began on 28 February 2026 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran has gone through several cycles of ceasefire and renewed fighting, most recently collapsing again in early July before a fresh pause took hold from 27 July. It's understandable if you've lost track of exactly where things stand.

Layered on top of that, a serious heatwave has triggered wildfires across southwest France and parts of central Spain, forcing evacuations near Bordeaux and Madrid. That's a genuinely different kind of risk, driven by weather rather than conflict, and it affects different places.

The honest answer to "is it safe to fly?" is that both situations are real, and both are geographically specific. Neither one means you should treat travel in general as unsafe. The right approach is the same one we've recommended throughout: check your specific destination, and your specific routing, rather than reacting to headlines about "the Middle East" or "European wildfires" as if they applied everywhere.

  • Is my specific destination safe for civilian tourists?
  • Is my specific flight routing safe?

We'll answer both, destination by destination, below, covering the conflict and the wildfires in turn.

What FCDO advice levels actually mean

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is the UK government body responsible for advising British nationals on travel safety abroad. Its advice is the single most important thing to check, and it comes in four distinct levels that most people have never been taught to read.

  • No advisory issued. The FCDO has no specific safety concerns about this destination. Normal travel precautions apply. Should you travel? Yes, travel as planned.
  • "Be vigilant" / regional tension notice. There are background risks, such as regional tension, drone activity nearby, or general instability, but nothing that would prevent a normal holiday. The FCDO sometimes issues a short update flagging "regional tension" without changing the underlying advice level. Should you travel? Yes, with sensible awareness of your surroundings.
  • "Advise against all but essential travel." There is a meaningful and specific risk. The FCDO cannot ban you from going, but it cannot guarantee your safety, and your travel insurance may be invalidated if you go. Should you travel? Think carefully. Check your insurance. Consider postponing.
  • "Advise against all travel." The strongest possible warning. The FCDO considers the risk to British nationals to be severe. Travel insurance will almost certainly be void. Should you travel? Do not travel. Package holiday refund rights are activated.

Crucially, the FCDO issues advice by country, and often by specific region within a country. An advisory for one part of a country does not mean the whole country is unsafe: at the time of writing, for example, the advice against travel to Israel applies only to Gaza, parts of the West Bank and parts of northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, not to the country as a whole.

The other reason to watch FCDO advice closely: if it changes to "advise against all travel" for your package holiday destination after you've booked, you are legally entitled to a full refund, with no cancellation fees and no vouchers. That's UK law. Bookmark gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice now.

Destination by destination: what's the situation?

Last updated: 30 July 2026. This remains a fast-moving situation. Always verify current advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice before you travel.

No FCDO advisory, civilian tourism unaffected by the conflict

Spain (including Majorca, Ibiza, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria)

No FCDO advisory related to the conflict. Flights operating normally from all UK airports. Note that a separate wildfire situation is affecting the area around Madrid and Ávila; see our wildfires section below if you're travelling to central Spain.

Greece (including Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Santorini, Zante)

No FCDO advisory. All major Greek island routes operating normally.

Portugal (including the Algarve, Lisbon, Madeira)

No FCDO advisory. All routes operating normally.

Italy (including Rome, Sicily, Sardinia, Amalfi, Venice)

No FCDO advisory related to the conflict. All routes operating normally, though EU officials have flagged that the wildfire risk driving events in France and Spain could spread further into southern Europe as the heatwave continues.

Malta, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Albania

No FCDO advisories. These destinations are unaffected by either the conflict or the wildfires and remain some of the smartest bookings of the summer.

Regional tension warnings, but civilian tourism currently unaffected

Cyprus

Cyprus still requires a more careful explanation than a simple traffic light can provide. Following the drone strikes on RAF Akrotiri back in March, the FCDO has not moved to an "against all travel" advisory for Cyprus, but it has, in the past week, reissued a regional tension warning covering Cyprus alongside Turkey, Jordan and the Gulf states. British nationals in the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are advised to remain vigilant, and the FCDO continues to note that terrorist attacks in Cyprus cannot be ruled out.

Larnaca and Paphos airports are operating normally, and civilian flights in and out of Cyprus are unaffected. We recommend monitoring the FCDO advice page for Cyprus specifically before and during your trip.

Turkey

Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean resort areas (Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Marmaris) are operating normally, with no FCDO advisory against travel. The FCDO does advise against all but essential travel to the southeastern provinces of Sirnak and Hakkari, which are far from any tourist resort. Turkey, like Cyprus, was included in the FCDO's most recent regional tension update. Istanbul continues to operate as a major transit hub; travellers connecting through it should allow extra time and expect flight paths over eastern Turkey to remain subject to change at short notice.

Monitor closely: Gulf hub disruption without a formal "avoid" warning

UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Qatar (Doha), Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia

This is the area where things have shifted the most since our last update. The FCDO has not gone back to advising against all but essential travel to these countries, despite the conflict's renewed escalation in early July. Instead, it has issued fresh regional tension warnings for all of them in the past week or so, alongside Jordan, Cyprus and Turkey, reflecting an unpredictable but not (at FCDO's assessment) acute risk to tourists.

That said, aviation is a different story. Dubai International and Abu Dhabi's Zayed International airports are both continuing full passenger and cargo operations, and UAE-based carriers such as Emirates, Etihad and flydubai are largely still flying, with Emirates operating at roughly 75 to 90% of capacity across around 137 destinations. But a long list of international carriers have independently suspended or extended suspensions of their own Gulf routes on safety grounds, separately from FCDO advice: British Airways has paused Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Amman and Tel Aviv services, with a return date currently pencilled in for late October 2026; Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific have extended Dubai suspensions to late October; and KLM's Amsterdam to Dubai route is suspended until late August. Kuwait's airport also briefly suspended operations in mid-July, and some Gulf-to-Gulf routes, such as Dubai to Kuwait, have seen short-notice cancellations. The Dutch government has gone further than the FCDO and issued a "do not travel" warning specifically for Bahrain.

If you're booked to or through any Gulf hub, check directly with your specific airline before travelling, since the picture varies carrier by carrier.

Egypt (including Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh, Cairo)

Egypt itself is not a conflict zone and the FCDO does not advise against travel to Egyptian tourist resorts. Some flight routes remain affected by the wider regional airspace situation. Check directly with your airline for your specific flight's status.

Do not travel

Iran

The FCDO advises against all travel to Iran. Do not travel.

Israel and Palestine

This advisory has narrowed since the spring. The FCDO no longer advises against all travel to Israel and Palestine as a whole. It now advises against all travel specifically to Gaza, parts of the West Bank, and parts of northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, and against all but essential travel to other parts of the West Bank. If you have a package holiday booked to an area still covered by an "against all travel" warning, you are entitled to a full refund; contact your tour operator and quote the Package Travel Regulations 2018. For anywhere else in Israel or the West Bank, check the specific area on the FCDO site, since the country level label alone won't tell you the full picture.

Lebanon

Lebanon remains subject to "do not travel" advice for parts of the country. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has held since mid-April, but it remains fragile, and the FCDO continues to warn of elevated risk in border areas.

What about flights to Asia, Australasia and the Indian Subcontinent?

If you're travelling to destinations that ordinarily connect through Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, you may still experience longer journey times or rerouting even though those destinations are not in a conflict zone, because of the airline suspensions and airspace advisories described above. This continues to affect journeys to Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries whose flights commonly route via Middle East hubs. Check with your airline before travelling.

Wildfires in France and Spain: what's the situation?

Separately from the conflict, a prolonged heatwave has driven serious wildfires across parts of southwest France and central Spain since mid-July, forcing large scale evacuations. This is a weather driven event, not a security one, and it affects specific, identifiable areas rather than either country as a whole.

France

The most serious fire is a large blaze in the Gironde department, in southwest France, burning within a few miles of Bordeaux. French authorities, including the regional prefect, have explicitly asked tourists to stay away from the affected area and to consider alternative destinations if they are already there. Nearly 4,000 people were evacuated from tourist sites on the Atlantic coast in late July as renewed heat threatened firefighters' control of the blaze. Rail traffic south of Bordeaux has been suspended, except on the route toward Toulouse, and the A63 motorway has been partly closed. Bordeaux airport itself remains open.

Smaller fires are also burning in Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Var and on Corsica. Marseille airport was briefly closed by a nearby wildfire in early July but reopened the same day and has continued operating since. The French government has been clear that the rest of the country, including the vast majority of holiday regions, remains untouched, and has actively encouraged tourists not to cancel trips to unaffected areas.

Spain

In Spain, the most significant wildfire activity is in the Madrid region and near Ávila, where evacuations have also taken place. Madrid's airport remains operational. Spain's popular coastal holiday regions, including the Costa del Sol, the Costa Brava, the Balearics and the Canary Islands, are not affected by these fires.

Should you be worried elsewhere?

EU officials have warned that the same heatwave conditions could increase wildfire risk further afield, including in Greece, Italy and parts of central Europe, as the summer progresses. That's a risk to watch rather than a reason to change existing plans; at the time of writing, no other mainstream destination has an active, tourism-affecting wildfire situation.

If you're travelling to southwest France or central Spain specifically, check your accommodation and local prefecture or regional government updates before you go, and consider your options if your destination sits inside an evacuation zone. If you're heading anywhere else in either country, there's no reason to change your plans based on the wildfires.

What about airspace, is flying over the region safe?

Airlines and aviation regulators take airspace safety extraordinarily seriously, and the system for managing conflict-zone airspace is well established. Aviation authorities, including the UK Civil Aviation Authority, EUROCONTROL, EASA and ICAO, issue NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen) and conflict zone bulletins that define which airspace is closed, restricted, or should be avoided. EASA's current Conflict Zone Information Bulletin for the region has most recently been extended to run until 31 August 2026, and continues to advise avoiding, or conducting enhanced risk assessments before operating through, airspace over Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, the UAE and the Gulf of Oman. It's reviewed regularly and can change at short notice.

What this means in practice: your aircraft will not be routed through airspace that aviation authorities have assessed as unsafe. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains well below its pre-war level, a sign of how cautious operators in the region remain even during quieter periods, but this affects sea freight far more directly than passenger aviation, which has its own separate system of restrictions.

For UK flights to western and central European destinations, including Spain, France, Italy and Portugal, none of the conflict-related airspace restrictions are relevant. Those flight paths do not go anywhere near the affected region.

What are airlines actually doing?

Airline decisions on Gulf and Middle East routes have become more individual and carrier specific as the conflict has dragged on, rather than following one single industry line. Here is what is happening in practice:

  • Extended suspensions on Gulf routes: British Airways has suspended Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Amman and Tel Aviv services, with a return currently pencilled in for late October 2026. Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific have extended their Dubai suspensions to late October, and KLM's Amsterdam to Dubai service is suspended until late August.
  • Gulf carriers largely still flying: Emirates continues to operate roughly 75 to 90% of its normal capacity across around 137 destinations, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports remain fully open for passenger and cargo traffic. Some Gulf-to-Gulf routes, such as Dubai to Kuwait and Dubai to Bahrain, have seen short-notice cancellations, and Kuwait's airport briefly suspended operations in mid-July.
  • Longer journey times on rerouted long-haul flights: Aircraft avoiding sensitive airspace over parts of Iran, Iraq and the Gulf are adding one to three extra hours to journey times on some long-haul routes to Asia, Australia and East Africa.
  • Western European routes operating normally: Short-haul flights from UK airports to Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and similar destinations are flying full schedules with no conflict-related disruption. Wildfire-related disruption has been limited and brief, for example the temporary closure of Marseille airport in early July, which reopened the same day.
  • Cyprus and Turkey routes operating, with monitoring: Flights to Paphos, Larnaca, Antalya, Bodrum and other popular resort airports are currently operating normally.

The broader point remains the same as it has throughout this conflict: airlines have both a commercial and a regulatory incentive to fly wherever it is safe and not to fly wherever it isn't. If your flight is operating as scheduled, it has been assessed by professionals as safe to operate.

What history tells us about flying during conflicts

It is worth stepping back and looking at what actually happens to aviation during geopolitical crises and extreme weather events, because the pattern is consistent, and it is instructive.

During the first Gulf War in 1991, global aviation was disrupted but recovered quickly once the conflict stabilised. During the 2003 Iraq War, UK holiday bookings dipped briefly, then surged as people realised the disruption was geographically contained. During the Arab Spring of 2011, Egypt and Tunisia saw sharp falls in tourism, but Spain, Greece and Turkey had record seasons as travellers pivoted. After 9/11, the most dramatic aviation shock in recent history, global flight volumes recovered to pre-crisis levels within two years. European wildfire seasons, though increasingly frequent as the climate warms, have followed a similar pattern: severe disruption in the immediate fire area, minimal impact anywhere else, and a swift return to normal once the fire is contained.

In each case, the same thing happened: the crisis disrupted travel in the places directly affected, and temporarily unsettled travellers everywhere else. But the industry absorbed the shock, regulators adapted, and people went on holiday.

None of this means either situation should be taken lightly. Five months of on-and-off conflict, and a wildfire season that officials warn could spread further, are genuine reminders that this kind of disruption can persist longer than anyone expects. But history does suggest that the appropriate response is careful, informed vigilance, not blanket cancellation of travel plans that have nothing to do with either affected area.

What to do right now

  • Bookmark the FCDO advice page for your specific destination, at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. Check it today, check it a week before you go, and again 72 hours before departure.
  • If your destination is Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, most of France, Malta, Cyprus or Turkey, there is no FCDO advisory and no meaningful disruption to civilian travel. There's no reason to hold off travelling.
  • If you're travelling to southwest France (Gironde/Bordeaux) or central Spain (Madrid/Ávila), check with your accommodation and local prefecture or regional government before you go, and have a backup plan if your specific area is inside an evacuation zone.
  • If you're flying to, from or through a Gulf hub, check directly with your specific airline. Suspensions and return dates now vary carrier by carrier, so the airline, not the destination country, is the thing to check.
  • If you're booked to Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon or Iran, check the area-level detail on the FCDO site rather than just the country name; advice now varies significantly by specific region within these countries.
  • Do not cancel before official advice changes. If you cancel a package holiday before the FCDO formally advises against travel to your destination, you may lose your cancellation deposit. Wait for the official trigger, then act with your rights in place.
  • Check your travel insurance for both war exclusions and natural hazard cover. Policies vary on whether wildfire-driven evacuation is treated the same way as a formal FCDO change of advice, so read the terms or call your insurer directly if you're travelling to an affected area.

The bottom line

Two separate things are happening at once this summer, and both look more alarming in the headlines than they are for most holidaymakers. The Iran conflict is five months old and moving in cycles of ceasefire and escalation, but its impact remains concentrated in Iran, Israel and Palestine, Lebanon, and the Gulf states, plus longer journey times for some long-haul routes that pass through Gulf hubs. The wildfires in France and Spain are a serious, weather-driven event for the specific communities affected around Bordeaux and Madrid, but they leave the overwhelming majority of both countries, including their main holiday regions, untouched.

The FCDO and EASA, whose job it is to assess these risks seriously and professionally, have not issued advisories against travel to mainstream destinations including Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, most of France, Malta, Cyprus or Turkey. That assessment is based on intelligence and expert analysis, not wishful thinking.

Travel carefully. Check the FCDO advice, and for southwest France or central Spain, the local prefecture or regional government updates, for your specific destination. Monitor it before you go. And if you're heading somewhere unaffected by either situation, there is every reason to look forward to your holiday.

This page is reviewed and updated regularly as both situations develop. For the very latest position on your specific destination, always use the FCDO's live advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.


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