France becomes latest country to suspend travel from UK

France has become the latest country to ban travel from the UK over fears of a rapidly spreading new strain of coronavirus.

The country follows Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium in imposing restrictions.

In France, travel from the UK will be suspended from midnight tonight.

In a statement, the government said that the short 48-hour period would buy authorities time to find a ‘common doctrine’ on how to deal with the threat.

It specified that ‘flows of people or transport to the UK are not affected’.

There were long queues at St Pancras station in London today, with Eurostar passengers lining up to get back to Paris before the expected crackdown on travel.

One 23-year-old Frenchman, who only gave his name as Francois, said he booked his ticket to Paris in the morning after changing it from next week.

He said: ‘I know that it’s not really good to leave and go back to France. I haven’t seen my family for four months and a half.

‘I tried to isolate myself as much as possible.

‘I booked my train this morning, not really reasonable because of the evolution of the virus.

‘It’s a pretty personal choice, I don’t feel proud about that.’

The sales management student admitted he was ‘worried’ ahead of seeing his family, adding that he planned to self-isolate and take a test first.

It comes after various other European countries have suspended travel from the UK following Boris Johnson’s decision to put London and parts of the south east into a strict tier four lockdown.

The prime minister said he had taken this decision because a new strain of coronavirus was becoming more prevalent, which could spread up to 70% more quickly.

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