France will dramatically tighten restrictions on travel from Britain to slow the spread of the new Omicron variant, effectively banning all non-essential journeys. The government announced in a statement that incoming travellers would require “an essential reason to travel to, or come from, the UK, both for the unvaccinated and vaccinated” from midnight on Saturday (11pm GMT Friday). France had therefore “chosen to reinstate the need for an essential reason for travel from and to the UK”, it said. The transport and travel union TSSA called on the government to reinstate access to the furlough scheme for Eurostar and other cross-Channel travel operators. The French government also said asked travellers from France who had planned to visit the UK to postpone their journey.

Source: The Guardian December 16, 2021 21:14 UTC