As announced over the weekend, the Boris Johnson has decided toapply even stricter containment measures. The cause: the discovery of a new, more contagious variant of the virus. A new danger level, labelled '4', now applies to London and the south-east of England. All travel is prohibited in this zone and all non-essential shops are closed..
The The Netherlands were the first to suspend all links with the UK. This measure will apply until at least the beginning of January. L'Amsterdam Schiphol airport is particularly affected by this measure.
The platform is Europe's main air gateway to and from the UK. Amsterdam has flights to a dozen British cities.
Suspension of UK/France traffic
L'Germany, the Belgium, l'Ireland and l'Italy adopted similar emergency measures over the weekend. La France followed suit. It has also suspended air traffic and routes in Eurostar or via Eurotunnel. On Monday 21 December, Denmark, Norway and the Baltic States followed suit.
" France has taken safeguard measures by suspending the traffic from the UK to FranceThis will apply not only to passenger transport, but also to freight transport. And for at least 48 hours" said the Minister for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari on Sunday evening..
The French government must take decision on whether to extend the suspension, in whole or in part. It is highly likely that the authorities will decide to continue temporarily restricting passenger traffic.
The new variant of the virus means that the UK is virtually isolated. Such a situation may well please the most radical supporters of the Brexit.
