A growing number of EU countries including Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands moved over the weekend to halt travel from the UK after a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, caused in part by a more infectious new strain.
Germany, Italy and the Netherlands announced on Sunday that they were stopping flights from the UK while Belgium banned air and rail travel. France said it was halting all forms of transport from the UK.
Ireland imposed sweeping curbs on passenger flights and ferries and Austria said it was preparing a blanket ban on UK travellers. Eurostar said it would be unable to “run trains between London, Brussels and Amsterdam” from Monday.
The unilateral moves sparked calls for a more co-ordinated EU response to the UK situation as scientists also expressed concern that the more transmissible new variant had appeared in other countries including Denmark and the Netherlands.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is in…