Essential travel only as France shuts borders to UK

Long queues of lorries could be seen near England's Port of Dover on Thursday because French officials announced new restrictions on British travellers. The announcement came as the U.K. recorded 88,376 new daily COVID-19 infections.

The new measures, which take effect on early Saturday, mean British citizens will only be able to enter France for essential reasons, not including business or tourism. French citizens and residents will still be able to enter. All arrivals will need to quarantine.

British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted that he had spoken to his French counterpart Jean-Baptiste Djebbari and confirmed that hauliers would be exempt from the new rules. Delta remains the dominant virus variant in France but omicron is spreading so fast in Britain that it is raising concerns across the Channel.