UK cancels Christmas and New Year celebration in the wake of new coronavirus strain

Countries across the world have halted air travel to the U.K. while France has banned trucks from entering for a period of 48 hours from the midnight of December 19, while the new variant is assessed, including trucks carrying freight through the tunnel under the English Channel or from the port of Dover on England's south coast. While London fared relatively well in controlling the virus throughout the fall, the city now has the highest infection rates in England. Officials said the new mutation accounted for some 60 percent of the capital's cases.

Millions of people in England have learned they must cancel their Christmas get-togethers and most shops are closed in London and much of southern England after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a new, stricter level of coronavirus restrictions on the region to curb rapidly spreading infections from December 19. (Image: AP)

The capital and large areas in southern England which were already placed under the highest level of the U.K. government's three-tiered coronavirus alert system will move into a new Tier 4 that requires all non-essential shops, hairdressers and indoor leisure venues to remain close. (Image: AP)

With just days to go until Christmas, Johnson also announced that a planned easing of socializing rules that would have allowed up to three households to meet in “Christmas bubbles” from December 23 to December 27 will be canceled for Tier 4 areas and sharply curtailed in the rest of England. (Image: AP)

Johnson concluded that there was “no alternative open to me” and people must sacrifice this Christmas to have a better chance of protecting the lives of loved ones. (Image: AP)

The changes upend the plans of millions of people who were looking forward to gathering with family and friends next week and force scores to revise their travel plans at the last minute. (Image: AP)

While restaurants, pubs, bars and theaters in much of England are already closed and prepared for a bleak Christmas, all shops in Tier 4 areas that don’t sell food or medicine will remain shut until officials review the situation on December 30. (Image: AP)

Johnson said that a fast-moving new variant of the coronavirus that is more than 70 percent more transmissible than existing strains appears to be driving the rapid spread in London and southern England. (Image: AP)

Countries across the world have halted air travel to the U.K. while France has banned trucks from entering for a period of 48 hours from the midnight of December 19, while the new variant is assessed, including trucks carrying freight through the tunnel under the English Channel or from the port of Dover on England's south coast. (Image: AP)

While London fared relatively well in controlling the virus throughout the fall, the city now has the highest infection rates in England. Officials said the new mutation accounted for some 60 percent of the capital's cases. (Image: AP)