ALL travel corridors from the UK will be closed from 4am on Monday, January 18, the prime minister has announced.

The announcement was made at this evening's press conference by prime minister Boris Johnson and is intended to last until at least February 15 to protect the UK against the new coronavirus strains.

The move also ends the quarantine exemption for arrivals from selected nations. It means that people travelling abroad will need to xomplete a pre-departure test and quarantine for 10 days on their return home.

Mr Johnson said: “It’s precisely because we have the hope of that vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country.

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“Yesterday we announced that we’re banning flights from South America and Portugal and to protect us against the risk from as-yet-unidentified strains we will also temporarily close all travel corridors from 4am on Monday.

“Following conversations with the devolved administrations we will act together so this applies across the whole of the UK.”

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said: 

“Unfortunately, we have seen some worrying new strains of coronavirus appear around the world and need to take extra steps to protect people in Wales and the rest of the UK from these new forms of the virus.

“Suspending travel corridors means that most people who are travelling overseas will now have to complete a pre-departure test and quarantine when they return to Wales to make sure they are not bringing coronavirus home with them.

“We are starting to see cases of coronavirus falling in Wales thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of everyone – with our vaccination programme gathering real momentum, we want to do everything we can to keep Wales safe.

“I am pleased we have been able to work with the UK Government and with the First Ministers of Northern Ireland and Scotland to agree a joint approach.”