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Everyone who has had to cancel a rail or coach journey in England between 23 and 27 December will be able to get a refund, the government has announced.

It comes after the planned easing of Covid rules for Christmas was scrapped for large parts of south-east and eastern England.

For the rest of England, Scotland and Wales, the relaxation of the rules now just covers Christmas Day. Northern Ireland has limited it to one day between 23 and 27 December.

The government will provide cash refunds for domestic rail and coach tickets in England booked on or after 24 November, when the now-scrapped Christmas travel window was announced.

Operators will be able to issue refunds immediately and passengers are advised to check the website of their operator for how to claim.

Read more.

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UK supermarket Sainsbury's has warned that some products could be missing from shelves due to restrictions at ports.

A spokesperson said: "We are also sourcing everything we can from the UK and looking into alternative transport for product sourced from Europe.

"If nothing changes, we will start to see gaps over the coming days on lettuce, some salad leaves, cauliflowers, broccoli and citrus fruit - all of which are imported from the continent at this time of year."

They called on the UK and French governments to come to "a mutually agreeable solution that prioritises the immediate passage of produce and any other food at the ports".

However, they added that food for a traditional Christmas dinner was available and already in the country.

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Dozens of travellers who flew in to Germany from the UK on Sunday had to spend the night at the Hanover and Frankfurt/Main airports, after Germany imposed new coronavirus travel restrictions.

German NTV news says 120 passengers were kept overnight at Frankfurt/Main airport and 63 at Hanover airport.

Health officials and nurses at Hanover airport, some dressed in full PPE protection suits, started administering immediate Covid-19 tests.

Camp beds were hastily assembled in the transit lounge. Some passengers - who include women with infants - have tweeted their anger about being kept there against their will.

The emergency restriction followed the UK's tight controls aimed at stopping the spread of a new, more infectious variant of coronavirus.

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After months of avoiding the surge in cases seen by its neighbours, Thailand has been hit by its worst Covid-19 outbreak yet.

Tens of thousands of people are being tested after hundreds of cases linked to its biggest seafood market.

It has locked down Samut Sakhon, the coastal province near the capital Bangkok, home to the market which employs mostly migrant workers from neighbouring Myanmar.

Workers have been ordered to stay home.

Thailand was the first country outside China to register cases of Covid-19. But it has recorded a relatively low virus caseload since, with just over 4,000 cases and 60 deaths before this latest outbreak.

Read more here.

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The UK government should offer rapid testing to lorry drivers so they will be allowed back into France, according to Logistics UK general manager Alex Veitch.

He told BBC Breakfast: "The silver lining in this very substantial cloud is that we now have measures and tools available that were not here in the first wave of the pandemic.

"Now we have testing and so we are encouraging our government to look seriously at introducing rapid testing for drivers."

He also said he was very worried about drivers who are stuck in their lorries after France closed its border, and that plans to use the defunct Manston Airport site would be an "absolute necessity" for them to get refreshments and use the toilet.

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People living in Britain have been urged not to panic buy after France closed its border with the UK for 48 hours.

Alex Veitch, from trade group Logistics UK, told BBC Breakfast the ban was only affecting outbound freight with drivers in a truck, and that inbound goods were still moving.

He said: "This is why we are saying at the current time, please, there is no need to panic buy, there are goods available in the shops, retailers are doing everything they can."

However, he said the government needed to work with EU partners to come up with a pragmatic solution "as quickly as possible" to give the French and other authorities confidence that drivers are Covid-free.

Ian Wright, the chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation also said there was no need for people to panic buy but he said there was "concern" around food supplies in the longer term, particularly after Christmas.

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The EU is set to meet later today to discuss the new coronavirus strain detected in the UK, but here's how other countries have already responded:

• In the EU, many countries - including France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Sweden and Belgium - have already announced temporary bans on flights from the UK, although several countries have allowed exceptions for freight traffic
• Bulgaria has also suspended flights, but unlike the short-term measures in many other nations, its measures will last until 31 January

• Turkey and Switzerland have also halted flights from the UK

• But it's not just Europe that has acted: Canada has suspended entry of all passenger flights from the UK for 72 hours, effective from midnight (05:00 GMT)

• Other countries introducing new restrictions on UK travel include Hong Kong, Israel, Iran, Croatia, Argentina, El Salvador, Chile, Morocco and Kuwait
• Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has suspended all international flights for one week because of the pandemic.

Read our full guide here.

Testing lorries drivers could be one possible way the UK can come to a resolution with France over the banning of freight hauliers from the UK, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said.

He told the BBC's Today programme that the two countries would be looking at "all the different solutions" later, including mass testing using lateral flow kits.

However, he added that lorry drivers "actually don’t see anyone" and they are probably "the least likely people to pick up the virus” which is why other countries haven’t banned them.

Shapps also said that the UK’s coronavirus vaccine supplies wouldn’t be affected by the travel bans.

"It comes via containers and the container traffic isn't affected at all, so this isn't an issue with the vaccine at all and indeed will never be an issue for medicines regardless because we have freight contingencies in place," he said.

News that European countries are banning passengers travelling from the UK because of a new variant of coronavirus dominates Monday's papers.

"French show no merci," is the play on words on the front of the Sun , externalafter President Emmanuel Macron imposed a travel ban on the UK because of what the paper describes as the "mutant" Covid strain.

It says the restrictions are "stoking fears" of a massive breakdown in food and goods supplies.

The Daily Telegraph says the bans across Europe could affect the travel plans of 250,000 Britons, external.

"Sick man of Europe," , externalis the main headline in the late edition of the Daily Mirror, alongside an image of Boris Johnson wearing a Union Jack hat.

It says countries acted amid fears the new variant of the virus was "running rampant" in England.

"The worst noël," , externalis the Daily Mail's take on Matt Hancock's warning that the toughest tier four restrictions could last for months.

Read more from the papers here.

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Australian states and territories have begun enforcing entry bans on Sydney residents amid a growing coronavirus outbreak in the nation's largest city.

The border closures outside New South Wales (NSW) have dashed Christmas plans and family reunions for many people.

Airlines cancelled several flights leaving Sydney Airport on Monday, following a midnight deadline.

The city has recorded 83 cases so far in this outbreak, all linked to Sydney's Northern Beaches region.

Speaking from Canberra on Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: "2020 is not done with us yet."

"The events of the past few days... are incredibly frustrating and disappointing for people all around the country who had plans in place to get together and move in between states."

Read more here.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says it is "important" to find a resolution with France "as quickly as possible" after it banned freight hauliers and passengers from the UK entering the country.

He told BBC Breakfast that his French counterpart, who he spoke to last night, is also keen to get it resolved quickly.

He says it is also in France’s interests to find a solution and he will be speaking to the French transport minister again this morning.

Shapps adds that most goods come into the UK in containers - 80% - these are "unaccompanied freight" which are not subject to the ban. He also points out that only France have banned hauliers – other EU nations have not.

Here's a reminder of today's other global headlines:

• Lawmakers in the US have agreed to a package of pandemic aid worth around $900bn (£660bn) after months of wrangling. The money includes support for businesses and employment programmes
• Sydney has become cut off from the rest of Australia, as all other states and territories introduce travel bans for the city due to an outbreak
• Thailand is seeing its worst coronavirus outbreak so far, after hundreds of cases were linked to the country's biggest seafood market
• Denmark is to dig up four million mink that were culled because of a mutated form of coronavirus. They will now be incinerated instead to avoid pollution, the government says

Image source, PA Media

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee later after France closed its border with the UK for 48 hours.

The move, announced on Sunday, means no lorries or ferry passengers will be able to sail from the port of Dover.

France is among a growing list of countries to suspend travel links because of the prevalence of a new variant of coronavirus in the UK which has led to a sharp rise in cases.

The travel ban has led to warnings of possible disruption to food supplies over Christmas. But supermarkets have insisted their warehouses are well-stocked.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. We’ll be bringing you all the latest developments in the UK and around the world. Here are the main UK headlines this morning:

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee later after France closed its border with the UK for 48 hours
• A growing number of countries have introduced travel bans on the UK after a new coronavirus variant has led to a sharp increase in cases in south-east England
• Nations including Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Irish Republic, Turkey and Canada are suspending UK flights
• The government in Northern Ireland has announced the relaxation of coronavirus rules over the festive period will be reduced from five days to just Christmas Day when three households will be allowed to mix
• Coronavirus cases in the UK rose by 35,928 on Sunday- nearly double the number recorded seven days previously