Image source, Nicola Smith

Canada, India, Denmark, Italy and the Republic of Ireland are just a few of the countries that have blocked UK arrivals following news of the rapid spread of a new variant of coronavirus.

For Nicola Smith, whose huband died in a motorbike accident in July, it feels like the last straw.

Nicola, 60, from Morecambe, was due to fly to Canada on Monday to visit her daughter, Philippa, and three-year-old granddaughter Martha.

But her hopes were dashed when Canada brought in a 72-hour ban on flights from the UK.

"I just wanted to go away where we could make new memories," said Nicola.

Nicola hasn't seen her granddaughter since she was a baby, nor has she seen her daughter since Philippa was widowed last year.

"She's having such a hard time so far away from her family with a lockdown, and she was trying to work from home with a three-year-old with no family within thousands of miles," said Nicola.

"She was so looking forward to just having her mum there."

Read more.

The new variant of coronavirus found in the UK is likely to become the dominant global strain, a scientist advising the government has said.

Prof Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) which advises the UK government, said the new strain was infecting many more people in the same amount of time than the previous variant.

Asked whether the new variant would become the dominant strain around the world, he told Sky News: "I suspect it will, or strains like it will.

"Because the virus has the evolutionary advantage in transmitting more quickly, it will out-compete all the other strains, and so it will naturally do that."

Read more about the new variant here.

The president of the EU Commission has praised the European Medicines Agency's decision to recommend the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

"It’s a decisive moment in our efforts to deliver safe & effective vaccines to Europeans!" Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet.

The vaccine still needs to secure approval from the EU Commission, but Von der Leyen said she expected a decision by this evening.

Image source, PA Media

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said pupils in Scotland will not return to school until 11 January and learning will remain online only until "at least 18 January".

She said there was no suggestion that transmission had become a greater problem in schools, but the the delay to reopening schools in January was "necessitated" by the latest developments around the new coronavirus variant.

"We are determined, if at all possible, to get schools back to normal from 18 January," she said.

Scotland's interim chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith added there was no clear signal to say children were any more likely to transmit the new variant than any other age group.

He said the decision on temporary school closures was a "precautionary approach" to limit the opportunity for spread of the new variant.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) says it recommends use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for vaccinations to start in the EU within days.

Formal approval still has to be granted by the European Commission.

Germany, France and Italy are among countries planning to start vaccinating on 27 December.

Image source, Getty Images

The list of countries banning UK arrivals because of concerns over the spread of a new variant of coronavirus.

Flights from the UK have been suspended in more than 30 nations in Europe and across the world including India and Hong Kong.

On Sunday evening, France shut its border with the UK for 48 hours, meaning no lorries or ferries will be able to sail from the port of Dover.

The French government said on Monday it will establish a protocol "to ensure movement from the UK can resume", although no decision is expected before Tuesday.

Find out more here.

As the total number of coronavirus cases in the US approaches 18 million, here are the top stories so far today:

• After months of wrangling, US lawmakers have agreed to a roughly $900bn (£660bn) package of pandemic aid, including money for businesses and unemployment programmes
• President-elect Joe Biden, who at 78 is considered to be at high risk from Covid-19, is to receive the coronavirus vaccine along with his wife Jill later today. Vice-President Mike Pence and senior politicians have already received their first injection
• The US administered more than 550,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in the first week of its mass innoculation campaign, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Sunday
• The Moderna vaccine is expected to arrive across the country after it was approved last week
• At least 317,684 people have died in the US since the pandemic began, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University

Image source, Reuters

Gavin Lee
BBC Europe reporter

Image source, Reuters

There are two meetings going on in Brussels, which could ultimately determine whether or not UK travellers will have to face the same set of restrictions no matter where they travel to in the EU.

The first is a meeting of health officials, focused on examining this new mutated virus variant, using data sent from UK scientists.

Then, officials in the EU’s crisis response team will meet to try and co-ordinate a single set of rules that every country can apply to UK travellers.

But no decision is expected today. That’s the job for EU ambassadors when they meet via video conference tomorrow morning.

One French official told me that they are desperate to reopen the borders "as soon as safely possible" and one option being put forward is to allow borders to reopen, but demand that UK travellers prove they have had a negative Covid test in the 24 hours prior to arrival in each member state. That would include tests for lorry drivers crossing the channel.

There is a hotchpotch of travel restrictions in place at the moment, with 17 European countries coming up with their own short-term solutions. Spanish, Greek, Italian and Danish officials say would like to see a common approach.

Several officials have told me they fear the stable door may have closed after the horse has bolted; that despite the measures, they may soon identify many more cases around the continent.

Image source, EPA

The UK government is working "urgently" with its international partners to minimise disruption caused by travel bans imposed by other countries on people and goods from the UK.

On Sunday evening, France shut its border with the UK for 48 hours, meaning no lorries or ferries will be able to sail from the port of Dover.

"Conversations between relevant ministers are ongoing," the prime minister's official spokesman said, adding that the government was "in close contact with the French to get this resolved".

Asked whether Brexit had anything to do with other countries' actions, the spokesman said: "No, we don't think that's the reason for this... throughout the pandemic different travel restrictions have been imposed throughout the world."

The Foreign Office regularly updated its travel advice and was on hand to assist British nationals, the spokesman added.

Image source, PA Media

The number of people in Wales with the new variant of coronavirus is likely to be a lot higher than currently known, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said.

He told today's press briefing: “The figures we have at the moment that we know of are over 600 cases of the new variant in Wales, but that is almost certainly, as our public health colleagues tell us, a significant underestimation.”

“Only a proportion” of the Welsh tests go to the two Lighthouse labs currently able to detect the new variant, he added.

Drakeford also said that discussions are under way to offer people working on Christmas Day “compensatory arrangements”.

With the latest rules only allowing household mixing on 25 December there are concerns that some key workers may decline to work that day in order to spend time with their families.

In Northern Ireland, the government has offered flexibility on which day families can come together.

Image source, PA Media

People should "shop normally" in the run-up to Christmas while travel bans are in place, Downing Street has said.

Retailers have played down fears of food shortages after France shut its borders to UK hauliers for 48 hours due to the UK's new coronavirus variant.

However, they have warned of "serious disruption" if the blockade is prolonged.

The prime minister's official spokesman said "people should shop normally and continue to be considerate in the way they shop".

He added that the "majority of food doesn't come into the UK from the short straight" between Dover and Calais and the UK has "diverse and resilient supply chains".

Image source, Sophie Stefan/Reuters

As we have already reported, dozens of passengers flying from the UK found themselves stuck at German airports overnight, after Germany imposed new coronavirus travel restrictions.

German NTV news says 77 people had to stay overnight at Berlin Brandenburg (BER) airport and 50 at Munich airport.

Seven passengers also tested positive on arrival at Hamburg airport, police said. All those arriving from the UK have had to go into quarantine.

At Hanover airport, one passenger out of 62 who arrived from the UK on Sunday tested positive, and is now in isolation in a hotel, as are several flight attendants.

The other Hanover passengers were allowed to leave, but must stay in quarantine.

Sabrina Dinkler-Stemme described an ordeal for those who were blocked at Hanover airport.

"I felt like a criminal. I was totally surrounded by the police. I was outside in the rain...We were all exhausted, many people were crying."

Adam Etinson, a Canadian among those stuck at BER airport, said "they couldn't tell us when a test would arrive, with no news of what will happen to us".

Image source, PA Media

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone has said police in Scotland will "act decisively and enforce the law" where people are found to be willfully defying the latest restrictions.

Speaking at the daily briefing in Edinburgh, he said he did not consider it "appropriate or proportionate" to establish roadblocks to stop people travelling, but said there would be an increase of police patrols and a doubling of police numbers on the border between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

He said he hoped the "visible controls" would deter people from unnecessary journeys and urged the public "to continue to follow the rules".

He paid tribute to the "dedicated officers and staff" within the police and said they would continue to protect the public throughout Christmas, particularly "the vulnerable, lonely and those at risk of harm".

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the biggest deterrent to breaking travel rules should not be "fines or police enforcement" - "it should be the risk of getting this virus".

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to hold a press conference at Downing Street later to provide updates on the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

It comes as a growing list of countries have banned arrivals from the UK because of concerns at the spread of a new variant of coronavirus.

Wales' first minister has denied his government was slow to act in imposing tighter restrictions over the Christmas period, saying new information only emerged at the weekend.

"We have acted in response to the views of clinicians in response to the rising cases," Mark Drakeford told a Welsh government briefing.

"What was different this weekend was that we had a new explanation for why we are seeing the rate of increase here in Wales - this new variant with its transmissibility, the speed with which it spreads.

"That’s why we had to bring forward our plans for a tier four set of restrictions across Wales."

Wales' deputy chief medical officer, Prof Chris Jones, added: "It is clear that the public health situation has been a cause for concern for some weeks. But the issue of the new virus variant is very, very recent indeed.

"We only need to know about such variants when they sort of take off… and that only became clear at the end of last week."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Scotland's case numbers have been volatile recently and "we think they may be rising again".

A further 1,504 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases in Scotland to 113,050.

However, the First Minister cautioned that the higher figure could be down to a processing backlog.

The R number has risen and is currently believed to be "hovering around one again", she said at Monday's daily briefing.

Analysis of the new variant of Covid-19 "does give us real cause for concern", she added.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was "genuinely sorry" for the latest measures restricting Christmas celebrations in Scotland

"If I thought there was an alternative... I would take that alternative in a heartbeat," she said at Monday's daily briefing.

But she stressed that, where coronavirus was concerned she had learnt that "failing to act quickly is almost always a mistake".

From Boxing Day, mainland Scotland will go into lockdown level four rules for at least three weeks

"I suspect these next two weeks are going to be even harder yet," said Sturgeon.

She stressed the importance of not travellng between Scotland and the rest of the UK, to curb the spread of the new variant of coronavirus within the country.

Image source, PA Media

Critical care units in Wales are operating "far beyond their normal capacity" and NHS staff "are stretched to their limit", First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned.

He told a Welsh government briefing: "If we continue to see cases rise unchecked - fuelled by this new, highly infectious strain of the virus - the effect on our NHS will be profound."

He said "swift action" was needed following new information about the spread of the variant in Wales.

“As a result, we took immediate action to bring forward the alert level four restrictions and change the Christmas arrangements because of the incredibly serious turn the pandemic had taken in Wales," he said.

“I’m sorry we were not able to give you more notice about the changes."

The new variant of coronavirus "looks very likely to be the significant driver" of the growth in cases in Wales in recent weeks, the country's deputy chief medical officer Prof Chris Jones has said.

He told a Welsh government briefing: “On Monday last week, we were aware of 10 cases in Wales.

“By Friday, this had risen to 20, mainly in Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan.

"But a new analysis by the weekend, suggested this new strain is much more common and it is present all over Wales – this includes north Wales where overall rates of the virus are lower than in south Wales."

Image source, reuter

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is hosting a daily coronavirus briefing alongside interim chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith and Chief Constable Iain Livingstone.

It follows an emergency briefing on Saturday, when Sturgeon announced that restrictions across Scotland would be eased on Christmas Day alone, rather than the five-day break originally announced.

Speaking on Monday, she said she understood the announcement was "upsetting" for many, adding that "none of the actions were taken lightly".

She said the newly discovered variant was a "real cause for concern" because indications suggested it "was much more transmissable".

She stressed there was no room for complacency or the virus could "run away from us very quickly" and the consequences could be "very serious indeed".