Scuffles have broken out at Dover as stranded lorry drivers clashed with police.
Several thousand lorries have been stuck near the Kent port after France stopped them crossing the Channel due to the new variant of coronavirus.
The drivers have been lined up on the motorway and at nearby Manston airfield after the French decision on Sunday night.
UK and French governments have now reached a deal to reopen the border to hauliers and some passengers from Wednesday - if they test negative for COVID.
The military and NHS Test and Trace teams are to use quick turnaround tests on the waiting drivers, who come from all around Europe.
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The time it will take to clear the backlog is unclear, but Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said it will "take a few days".
Drivers gathered at the port began booing and whistling masked police just after 8am this morning, before a small group started pushing officers as others filmed on their phones.
MORE of England is set for Tier 4 as early as Boxing Day after the new coronavirus strain spread "everywhere".
Ministers and medics met on Tuesday night after the mutant Covid strain was detected in parts of the South West, Midlands and the North - areas all currently in Tier 2 or 3.
Kent Buckinghamshire Berkshire Surrey (excluding Waverley) The boroughs of Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings All 32 London boroughs and the city of London. Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough Hertfordshire Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring).
Which Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas have the highest infection rates?
Places in Tier 2 and Tier 3 with the highest infection rates:
Burnley, Tier 3: 438 cases per 100,000
Lincoln, Tier 3: 409 cases per 100,000
Boston, Tier 3: 406 cases per 100,000
Rushmoor, Tier 2: 378 cases per 100,000
Stoke-on-Trent, Tier 3: 341 cases per 100,000
Pendle, Tier 3: 338 cases per 100,000
Rugby, Tier 3: 337 cases per 100,000
East Staffordshire, Tier 3: 331 cases per 100,000
West Lindsey, Tier 3: 323 cases per 100,000
Wealden, Tier 2: 323 cases per 100,000
Uttlesford, Tier 2: 313 cases per 100,000
Wolverhampton, Tier 3: 300 cases per 100,000
Places in Tier 4 with the lowest infection rates:
Gosport: 159 cases per 100,000
Chiltern: 202 cases per 100,000
North Hertfordshire: 232 cases per 100,000
Welwyn Hatfield: 248 cases per 100,000
Mole Valley: 255 cases per 100,000
Guildford: 260 cases per 100,000
Windsor and Maidenhead: 273 cases per 100,000
Dacorum: 277 cases per 100,000
West Berkshire: 278 cases per 100,000
Wokingham: 300 cases per 100,000
East Hertfordshire: 305 cases per 100,000
Stevenage: 312 cases per 100,000
In a separate No10 briefing last night, the Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said it was likely that measures would "need to be increased" outside of current Tier 4 regions.
In a clear indication millions of Brits should prepare for the toughest of restrictions, Sir Patrick said: "[The strain is] more transmissible, we've absolutely got to make sure we've got the right level of restrictions in place.
"I think it is likely that this will grow in numbers of the variant across the country, and I think its likely therefore that measures are going to need to be increased in some places, not reduced."
An announcement on which areas face the clampdown could come as soon as tomorrow - with the measures to kick in immediately after Christmas.
The Tier review was due to be reviewed on December 30, but fears the mutant strain is now “everywhere” meant it was brought forward.
The Sun understands a "Gold Command" meeting of public health chiefs and ministers was meeting on Tuesday evening to sign off expanding the hardest lockdown measures beyond London and the South East.
Health sources said it would not affect all of England "but there are many areas that need tougher measures and are seeing dramatic cases numbers."
Already a third of the country are in Tier 4 - the new highest level of restrictions like lockdown.
'THIS WILL SPREAD MORE'
In a grave warning, Sir Patrick added: "I think it is a case that this will spread more."
He said it was already "everywhere", as data shows the strain accounts for around 30 per cent of new cases in England.
It followed the Health Secretary Matt Hancock warning on Sunday the new strain was "out of control", while suggesting tougher restrictions would be needed to manage it until the spring.
But several other parts of the country appear at risk with higher infection rates.
Burnley, in Lancashire, has the highest Tier 3 infection rate, at 438 cases per 100,000 in the week to December 17.
It's four times higher than Gosport, in Hampshire, which has the lowest cases of all Tier 4 areas, at just 159 per 100,000.
Boston and Lincoln, both in Lincolnshire and under Tier 3, each have around 400 cases per 100,000 people.
But it's Rushmoor, on the border of locked down Surrey, that is of the most concern.
It's under Tier 2 but with an infection rate of 378 cases per 100,000 people - higher than at least 22 Tier 4 areas.
Also on the list of at-risk areas are Stoke-on-Trent and East Staffordshire, which each have more than 300 cases per 100,000, according to PA analysis of Public Health England data.
By comparison, Tier 4 areas are reporting lower cases of 202 per 100,000 in Chiltern, 232 in North Hertfordshire, 248 in Welwyn Hatfield and 255 in Mole Valley.
Infection rates are just one measure the Government consider for tier levels. They also look at NHS capacity and how cases have changed.
Crawley in Sussex, in Tier 2, has seen cases rise almost five-fold since the start of December, MailOnline reported.
And Eden, in Cumbria, reported a similar increase. Yesterday, public health chiefs revealed a hotspot of the new coronavirus strain in Cumbria was "being investigated".
The Tier 4 region is surrounded by Tier 2 areas, raising questions over how the virus can be contained.
Sir Patrick said: "It's localised in some places but we know there are cases everywhere, so it's not as though we can stop this getting into other places."
At the Downing Street briefing last night, the Prime Minister repeated that tiers were under constant review when asked by David from Portsmouth why Tier 4 restrictions were not applied as a blanket ban on movement for the whole of south-east England.
Boris Johnson said: “All I can say is we have to act on the basis of the epidemiology as we see it.
“We looked at where the new variant was, where it was spreading and acted to restrict it there, and, of course, we will keep those measures under review every couple of weeks.”
A sign on the M27 motorway near Portsmouth in Hampshire warning people in Tier 4 to stay at homeCredit: Paul Jacobs/pictureexclusive.com
An almost empty carriage on London Underground during rush hour on December 21Credit: AFP or licensors
Meanwhile, leaders have called for answers on why Tier 4 areas with low case rates have been dealt such a huge blow days before Christmas.
Parts of Hampshire were bizarrely lumped into the toughest restrictions this weekend, despite Gosport's cases being 10 times lower than England's Covid hotspot, Thurrock.
Gosport Borough Council's leader said he "can't understand" why the area has been moved into Tier 4, the BBC reported.
Portsmouth City Council said it was given "no warning" ahead of the Prime Ministers press briefing on Saturday night.
The next review of the Tiered system isn't until December 30, when officials consider not only the infection rate of each area, but the cases in over 60s and NHS bed capacity.
Tier 4 could be extended across the country
Public health leaders have warned that the mutated form of Covid is already sweeping across the UK.
Dr Susan Hopkins, Public Health England, said every other region in England has had cases detected in small numbers and risk seeing a similar explosion if infections are allowed to spread further.
She told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “It has also been detected in Wales, in Scotland, we have not had any detected in Northern Ireland.”
The new variant is “effectively seeded” across Wales and was a factor in the rapid rise of cases there, the country's health minister Vaughan Gething told BBC News on Sunday.
Where are Covid cases highest?
The following areas have the highest infection rates.
From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to December 17; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to December 17; rate of new cases in the seven days to December 10; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to December 10.
The Pfizer/BioNTechvaccine is currently being rolled out across the country with hopes the 25million vulnerable adults will be vaccinated by Easter.
But so far only half a million people have been given their first dose.
Mr Hancock admitted the new variant - which early analysis shows is 70 per cent more infectious - was "out of control".
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Mr Hancock yesterday said: "The cases in the Tier 4 areas have absolutely skyrocketed in the last few days, two weeks or so. We have got a long way to go to sort this.
"We've essentially got to get that vaccine."
When pushed over whether Brits in Tier 4 areas would remain in lockdown into the new year - despite a review expected on December 30 - Mr Hancock said: "Given how much faster this new variant spreads, it's going to be very difficult to keep it under control until we have the vaccine."
Speaking about the new strain of the virus, Professor Openshaw of Imperial College London, a member of Nervtag, told The Times: "It’s very unlikely anything less than really effective measures are going to control it.
"My concern is people are not going to comply. It’s really important people appreciate the danger.
"It does seem inevitable it will spread but it doesn’t mean it’s useless trying to prevent that from happening."
He added that it may be "necessary to extend" the Tier 4 restrictions further into England as the virus spreads.
After the Downing Street briefing on Saturday, Prof Jonathan Stoye said he didn't understand why Tier 4 was only imposed on part of the country.
Prof Stoye, Retrovirus-Host Interactions Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, said: “I’m not certain that I understand the rationale of a partial imposition of Tier 4 rules.
"If enhanced restrictions are required to control the spread of the variant, why aren’t they being imposed across the whole country?"
He said if the variant had spread fast across the Southeast while it was under Tier 2 and 3 restrictions, it could do so in other parts of the UK which now have small numbers of cases.
Soaring cases
The PM was forced to put swathes of the south into Tier 4 on the back of scientific evidence the new strain, called VUI2020/01, was spreading rapidly.
Data shows cases are soaring across these parts of the country.
Cases per 100,000 people have tripled in just one week in Thurrock, Essex, the "hotspot" of England.
The authority recorded 2,055 new cases in the seven days to December 17 - the equivalent of 1,179 cases per 100,000 people. This is up from 436 in the seven days to December 10.
Data from the ONS shows that Covid cases are rising across England but in areas plunged into Tier 4, infections have soared during December
Basildon, also in Essex, has seen cases rise from 651 cases per 100,000 to 1,055.
Infections have doubled in Havering, the second Covid hotspot in England, and Redbridge - both in London.
Havering's cases are now 1,124 per 100,000, up from 547, while Redbridge has 993, up from 446.
Overall 90 per cent of England has seen a rise in infection rates in the most recent week, to December 17.
Only 30 of the 315 areas have seen cases fall, making up 10 per cent, and just one region remains unchanged.
A shocking 35,928 infections were recorded in 24 hours - a 95 per cent increase on last Sunday's daily infection figures that saw 18,447 cases recorded.
New Covid strain is ‘70% more contagious’ as coronavirus cases double in a WEEK
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has apologised after she was pictured breaching coronavirus rules by taking off her face mask at a funeral wake.
A photograph, published by the Scottish Sun, shows Ms Sturgeon chatting to three women in a bar while standing at a distance but not wearing a mask.
Face coverings for customers and staff are mandatory when entering, exiting and moving around hospitality venues under Scottish regulations.
Those who breach the face covering rules can be fined up to £60.
Ms Sturgeon was at the Stable Bar and Restaurant after attending a funeral for a Scottish government civil servant, the Scottish Sun reported.
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FM has approached pandemic by being upfront from v beginning. She has apologised for accidental lapse (which I suspect most of us have had one over last 9 months). I've known her for 15yrs & she is her harshest critic. I am sure most ppl will understand, accept apology & move on.
Ms Sturgeon said: "Last Friday, while attending a funeral wake, I had my mask off briefly. This was a stupid mistake and I'm really sorry.
"I talk every day about the importance of masks, so I'm not going to offer any excuses.
More from UK
"I was in the wrong, I'm kicking myself, and I'm sorry."
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Sturgeon: Level 4 rules could be toughened in Scotland
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: "The first minister should know better.
"By forgetting the rules and failing to set a proper example, she's undermining essential public health messaging.
"It's a blunder that an ordinary member of the public wouldn't get away with. There cannot be one rule for Nicola Sturgeon and another for everyone else."
France's decision to close the border with the UK to stop the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus has highlighted the importance of the Dover-Calais route for food supplies.
French residents and nationals with recent negative coronavirus tests will be able to travel from Wednesday, and lorry drivers can do so after a rapid lateral flow test.
So just how dependent is the UK on the EU for food? And should British shoppers be worried?
How dependent is UK on food from the EU?
About 30% of all the food we eat in the UK comes from the European Union, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) industry group.
Britain imports nearly half of its fresh vegetables and the majority of its fruit, both mainly from the EU - and that's where the potential problem was.
During the summer months, the UK can grow plenty of its own produce like lettuces and soft berries such as raspberries and strawberries, but when the weather turns colder Britain is forced to rely much more on imports from the EU.
In January, for example, the UK imports 90% of the lettuces it needs from the EU. But in June, Britain produces 95% of its own salad leaves.
Tomatoes follow the same pattern. In January, the UK buys in 85% of tomatoes from the European bloc, but by summer it is growing 60% of what the country needs.
By the time winter rolls around, half of all the UK's food is imported, according to the Food and Drink Federation.
It says that while there are no concerns about food supplies over Christmas, shoppers may have started to see gaps in fresh fruit and vegetable supplies from next week - had the UK and France not "swiftly restored" their links.
How does the UK get food here?
When it comes to fresh food, the most efficient and cheapest way to get produce to the UK is in refrigerated trucks, using the "roll-on roll-off" method of transport.
Food is loaded on the truck at a farm in Spain, for example, and is driven to Calais where it directly "rolls on" a ferry or the Eurotunnel and "rolls off" when it gets to Dover in the UK before heading to its final destination. These trucks are then loaded up with UK goods which are then sent back across the Channel to EU customers.
The driver will stay with the truck - which is known as "accompanied freight" - and this is why there were some problems in recent days.
France was concerned about drivers coming from the UK with the new variant of the coronavirus. Thousands of lorries got stuck in Kent waiting to get back into the EU.
In the past, the UK has turned to other means when fresh produce has been under threat.
In 2018, a summer heat wave meant the UK was eating more salad than usual but the hotter weather also made it difficult to actually grow lettuces.
Thousands of iceberg lettuces were duly shipped in to the UK from Los Angeles. But this is an expensive method of replenishing supplies and it is doubtful businesses will want to pay a premium for shipping at a time when they could be facing tariffs on buying other goods from the EU depending on a Brexit deal.
What does the UK sell to the EU?
Last year, the UK exported £14.2bn worth of food and drink to the EU, out of a total £23.6bn worldwide.
The Food and Drink Federation says the UK's biggest exports are goods such as whisky, salmon, chocolate, cheese and gin.
The UK also exports a huge amount of the meat it produces to the EU. The National Farmers' Union says 82% of UK beef exports go to the bloc. The UK sells 30% of its lamb overseas, most of which goes to the EU.
In the EU, Ireland is the UK's biggest customer. It bought £4bn worth of food and drink from the UK in 2019 - although that was a 3.8% drop on the previous year.
France bought £2.3bn worth of produce from Britain last year, a rise of 3.5%, while the Netherlands imported £1.7bn of UK goods, up 5.2%.
EPA
Are warnings of food shortages overdone?
The UK found itself in the eye of a perfect storm: France shut its border to freight from the UK; winter means the UK is more reliant on the EU for fresh food; Britain will stop trading under EU rules on 31 December; some British ports are facing severe delays; the coronavirus has changed shopping habits and it is Christmas so demand is high.
However, the UK's major supermarkets say they have plenty of supplies - following the coronavirus panic-buying earlier this year - and are encouraging people to "shop as normal".
Tesco said: "We've been building our stockholding of key products ahead of the Christmas peak and are working closely with our hauliers and suppliers to continue the supply of goods into our stores."
However, it did warn supplies of a few fresh items such as lettuce and citrus fruit might have been reduced "later this week" - had an agreement not been reached.
Sainsbury's said it was looking at looking at alternative ways of sourcing products from Europe, a spokesman says: "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."
Getty Images
Could supply chain worries mean we produce more food here?
We could - though there would certainly not be the variety consumers are used to. The National Farmers' Union says the UK imports 45% of its vegetables, the vast majority of which come from the EU.
Britain also buys 84% of its fruit from overseas, although it is less dependent on the EU for these goods.
However, Spain is the biggest supplier of fruit to the UK, accounting for 19% of imports.
There are certain things we can grow here in the UK whatever the weather. For example, the UK produces 70% of cabbage and cauliflower supplies in January, rising to 90% in June.
However, that appears to be more weighted towards cabbage at the moment given that Tesco and Sainsbury's have both warned that cauliflowers could be one of the vegetables affected by the disruption.
Meanwhile, vegetables like rhubarb will always thrive here given that it likes damp cold soil.
But if difficulties continue at the border with France, or a Brexit deal makes some produce more expensive to bring into the UK, then people may find themselves having to eat whatever is seasonal.
No doubt, this will please some such as environmentalists as it means food will not have to travel as far, keeping a lid on emissions.
France will reopen its borders to passengers from the United Kingdom on Wednesday, ending a blockade intended to stop the spread of a new coronavirus variant, but which has held up thousands of lorries before Christmas.
Much of the world shut its borders to Britain after a significantly more transmissible mutated coronavirus variant was discovered spreading swiftly across southern England.
With queues of trucks snaking to the horizon in England and some supermarket shelves stripped just days before Christmas, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrambled to get French President Emmanuel Macron to lift a ban on freight from Britain.
Late on Tuesday, a deal was reached with Paris to allow French and other EU residents to return home, providing they have a negative COVID-19 test that is less than 72 hours old.
French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari confirmed that air travel, boats and Eurostar trains would “resume service as of tomorrow morning”.
“French nationals, people living in France and those with a legitimate reason will have to be carrying a negative test,” he said.
Later on Tuesday the UK announced it had reached an agreement with France to allow lorry drivers stranded in the UK to leave, providing they take a rapid virus test.
“All lorry drivers, irrespective of nationality, will require a lateral flow test. This can detect the new strain of Covid-19 and provide results in around 30 minutes, rather than the 24 hours required after a PCR test,” said the transport ministry, adding the deal would be reviewed on 31 December.
Britain said it would begin handing out tests at multiple locations on Wednesday but cautioned that the process would take time.
“We’ll be making sure that tomorrow we’re out there providing tests,” UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps said. “This will take two or three days for things to be cleared.”
Earlier the European Commission advised that non-essential travel to and from Britain should be discouraged but said that people heading home should be allowed to do so, provided they undergo a COVID-19 test or quarantine for 10 days.
However, border controls are governed by national policy, so each EU country can have its own rules.
Britain said 632 trucks were stacked up on the M20 motorway in Kent, southern England, and 2,188 at nearby Manston Airport, now being used as a giant lorry park.
While trucks were still able to cross from France to Britain, they could not return so European truck drivers were extremely reluctant to travel.
A man walks past lorries parked on the M20 motorway after EU countries imposed a ban on travel from the UK due to a new strain of the coronavirus spreading in Britain [Simon Dawson/Reuters]
Food-supply concerns
The border closures were causing headaches across Europe, especially for those trying to transport perishable food. Milk suppliers were already trying to boost milk stocks in Britain ahead of Brexit.
“The plan was to stock up in the next 10 days so if there is a Brexit problem there are stocks for January,” said Alexander Anton, the secretary general of the European Dairy Association. “Now you can’t find a transport company to send a driver to the UK.”
The United Kingdom’s effective COVID-19 quarantine came just nine days before it is due to part ways with the EU after a transition period – considered to be one of the biggest changes in post-World War Two British history.
Countries across Europe and beyond have suspended travel from Britain since the weekend. Germany imposed a ban on UK travellers from Tuesday that could remain in place until January 6.
Thousands of lorries were stuck in the UK due to the travel ban [Simon Dawson/Reuters]One exception was the United States, which does not intend to impose COVID-19 screenings for passengers from Britain.
Cases of the new strain have also been detected in some other countries, including Denmark and Italy. Experts said the prevalence in Britain might be down to better detection.
Britain’s border crisis led to some panic-buying: shoppers stripped shelves in some supermarkets of turkey, toilet rolls, bread and vegetables.
While the government said there was enough food for Christmas, Tesco and Sainsbury’s both said food supplies would be affected if the disruption continued. Tesco said it had imposed temporary buying limits on some essential products.
France will start letting traffic from the UK back in from Wednesday after the nations reached agreement over their shared border, closed amid concerns over a new coronavirus variant.
Freight drivers and some passengers, including EU citizens, will be among those allowed to return - if they have a recent negative test for the virus.
Some 2,850 lorries have been stuck in Kent since the border shut on Sunday.
NHS Test and Trace staff and the military will be deployed for testing.
Planes, boats and Eurostar trains will resume on Wednesday morning.
Under the agreement between the two countries, admittance to France will be granted to those travelling for urgent reasons, including hauliers, French citizens, and British citizens with French residency.
But in order to travel, they will need to have received a negative test result less than 72 hours before departure.
Rapid lateral flow tests, which can detect the new strain and give a result in about 30 minutes, will be used rather than the 24 hours required for so-called PCR tests.
The drivers will receive the result by text message, and this message would give them the right to cross the Channel.
A "protocol is still being finalised" to work out what to do with those drivers who test positive, a government source told the BBC.
In an interview with broadcasters, Mr Shapps said enough tests had been sent to Kent to test all those who wanted to return by Christmas, but suggested it could take until Christmas for congestion to be relieved near ports.
Mr Shapps warned hauliers against travelling to Kent until further notice to alleviate congestion at ports.
He said: "I am pleased that we have made this important progress with our French counterparts this evening. This protocol will see the French border reopen to those travelling for urgent reasons, provided they have a certified negative Covid test.
"We continue to urge hauliers not to travel to Kent until further notice as we work to alleviate congestion at ports."
The arrangement agreed with the French government will be reviewed on the 31 December, but could run until 6 January, the Department for Transport said.
The French government will also carry out sample testing on incoming freight to the UK.
More than 50 countries have banned UK arrivals following widespread concern about the spread of the new variant.
No lorries have been leaving the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel to France.
Kent County Council leader Roger Gough told the BBC on Tuesday afternoon that 2,220 vehicles were at the temporary lorry park at Manston, while 632 were still being held on the M20.
The British Retail Consortium warned that trucks needed to be able to start travelling again in the next 24 hours to "avoid seeing problems on our shelves".
Andrew Opie, its director of food and sustainability, told the Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee: "What we've been told by members is that unless those trucks can start travelling again and go back to Spain and Portugal and other parts of Europe, we will have problems with fresh produce from 27 December."
The Channel is a vital trade route, with about 10,000 lorries a day travelling between Dover and Calais at Christmas, largely bringing in the freshest produce.
A further 36,804 people in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus and there were 691 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, according to Tuesday's government figures.
It is the largest daily number of cases recorded yet, though it is thought the infection rate was higher during the first peak in spring when testing was much more limited.
Meanwhile, truck drivers stranded in Kent have called for immediate help from the government, with hundreds facing a third night sleeping in their cabs.
Truck driver Laszlo Baliga, 51, from London, spent Tuesday delivering food and water to those lined up at Manston Airport, a disused airfield.
He began taking supplies after Hungarian drivers stranded in the lorry park posted on Facebook asking for help, with one telling him the only toilet on the site had been blocked.
He said he and friends had so far spent more than £500 on food and water for drivers at the site.
Mr Baliga said: "We have got ready-to-eat sausages, bread, tomatoes, lettuce, coffee. Basic foods for now for the drivers.
"We like to help because this is a difficult time."
Ronald Schroeder, 52, from Hamburg in Germany, said: "I am now staying in a hotel, but in front of the hotel there are thousands of people without any rooms waiting to come over the Channel crossing.
"I feel a little bit like Robinson Crusoe on an island."
The government defended the facilities for stranded drivers, saying there were "more than adequate health and welfare provisions available".
In other developments:
The company behind the Covid-19 vaccine being given to people in the UK says it is "highly likely" it will protect people against the new variant of the virus
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A man walks past lorries parked on the M20 motorway after EU countries imposed a ban on travel from the UK due to a new strain of the coronavirus spreading in Britain [Simon Dawson/Reuters]
Thousands of lorries were stuck in the UK due to the travel ban [Simon Dawson/Reuters]
