All travel corridors will be suspended from 4am on Monday and anyone who wishes to travel to the UK must have proof of a negative Covid-19 test in the previous 72 hours, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

Speaking at this afternoon's press conference, he confirmed that he has ordered the closure of all travel corridors from Monday to protect the UK against new coronavirus strains, ending the quarantine exemption for arrivals from selected nations.

He told the Downing Street press conference: “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.

“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 0400 on Monday.

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