Live data

Travel advisory map

US State Department, UK Foreign Office and Australian Smartraveller travel advice on one world map, with US embassy alerts and CDC health notices.

What the levels mean

Both governments use four steps. The US State Department's are Level 1, exercise normal precautions; Level 2, exercise increased caution; Level 3, reconsider travel; and Level 4, do not travel. Australia's Smartraveller uses the same four steps in its own words: exercise normal safety precautions, exercise a high degree of caution, reconsider your need to travel, and do not travel. A country's overall level can hide stricter advice for some regions, so read the government's page, linked from each level, before you go.

How the UK's advice works

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office does not use levels. For most destinations it gives no warning against travel. Otherwise it advises against all travel, or against all but essential travel, either to the whole country or to parts of it, and a country can carry both kinds of warning for different regions. The map colours each country by its strongest UK warning, so a country with a warning for one region shows that warning across the whole shape. Because the scales differ, the page does not score the UK against the US or Australia; it lists the destinations where the UK warns against the whole country beside the other two governments' levels.

Embassy alerts and health notices

A US embassy alert covers a specific event, such as a demonstration or a security incident, and the page shows the latest one posted in the last 30 days for the countries whose embassy publishes a feed World Monitor reads. A CDC travel health notice covers an outbreak or health risk, on its own four levels, and some apply to only part of a country. Neither changes a country's travel advisory level.

Why the governments disagree

Each government writes advice for its own citizens, weighing its consular reach, diplomatic ties and the risks its travellers face. A difference is not an error in any register. Where the US and Australia differ by two or more levels, both pages are worth reading in full.

How current this is

World Monitor reads every register every hour. The date beside each level is the date the government's feed gives for that advisory, which is usually when it was last reissued. This page restates official advice and is not travel advice of its own.

See it on the dashboard

The same data appears in the Security Advisories panel view of the World Monitor dashboard, next to the map, alerts and related panels. Other live checks are listed on the live tools page.