Britons dash home before Boris Johnson slams UK borders shut from Monday and axes all travel corridors amid fears of new Covid variants from abroad

Thousands of Britons today flew into the UK and were pictured arriving at the country's airports as they sought to get home before borders slam shut on Monday after all travel corridors were axed.

Boris Johnson said on Friday that from 4am on Monday all travel corridors will be suspended and anyone coming to the UK must have proof of a negative test in the previous 72 hours.

At a Downing Street briefing, the PM warned it was 'not the time to relax' as he escalated controls at the country's borders again.

Amid fears over new mutant strains of the disease, he also declared that all arrivals to the UK will have to have tested negative for coronavirus from Monday as he begged Britons to 'stay at home this weekend'.

Responding to the ban, travellers were seen wearing masks as they arrived at both Heathrow and Manchester Airport. One woman was seen dressed head to toe in protective gear.

Thousands of Britons today flew into the UK and were pictured arriving at the country's airports as they sought to get home before borders slam shut on Monday after all travel corridors were axed

The new regime means people arriving will still have to isolate for 10 days even if they have had a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours - or five if they have another negative result during that period.

The ban will be backed by tougher spot checks and will stay in place until at least February 15 as ministers and scientists work out how to manage the threat posed by mutations of the virus.

It was revealed today that 11 Britons have had one of the variants that have sprung up in Brazil - although it is not yet clear how much of a threat it poses.

Travellers from South America, Portugal, some of central America and South Africa are already barred from coming to the country.

Earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the timing of the South America border ban amid complaints ministers have been 'behind the curve' responding to the threat of new Covid variants.

Travellers were seen wearing masks as they arrived at both Heathrow and Manchester Airport. Pictured: People at Manchester Airport stand with their luggage

This woman was seen dressed head to toe in protective clothing and a mask as she wheeled a trolley full of luggage through Manchester Airport

Two students landed at Manchester Airport with full PPE as they landed from their Dubai flight and are heading to York University

The ban also covers the Central American state of Panama and Portugal – due to its strong travel links with Brazil – and the former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde.

It applies to everyone who has been in the area over the past 10 days - although UK and Irish nationals are exempt - and came into force at 4am.

Scientists analysing the Brazilian variant believe the mutations it shares with the new South African strain are associated with a rapid increase in cases in locations where there have already been large outbreaks of the disease.

British and Irish nationals and others with residence rights are exempted from the measures that were backed by the Scottish and Welsh governments, though they must self-isolate for 10 days along with their households on their return.

Mr Shapps described the ban as a 'precautionary' measure to ensure the vaccination programme rolling out across the UK was not disrupted by new variants of the virus.

Asked if the Brazilian strain was currently in the country, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Not as far as we are aware, I think, at this stage.

'There haven't been any flights that I can see from the last week from Brazil, for example.'

People arrive with suitcases at Heathrow Terminal 5 and head to the testing centre as travel corridors close from 4am on Monday

Travellers arrived in the UK at Manchester Airport from Barbados today and wore masks as they went through the terminal

People arrive at Heathrow Terminal 5 with trolleys full with luggage and full PPE and face masks ahead of travel corridors closing

Travellers returned from Barbados today wearing masks as they walked through the terminal at Manchester Airport

The new regime will be backed by tougher spot checks and will stay in place until at least February 15 as ministers and scientists work out how to manage the threat posed by mutations of the virus

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the timing of the South America border ban amid complaints ministers have been 'behind the curve' responding to the threat of new Covid variants

Dr Mike Tildesley, an epidemiologist who advises the Government on its scientific pandemic influenza group on modelling group, said the UK was late in imposing the travel ban but that it should minimise the risk from the 'more transmissible' variant.

'We always have this issue with travel bans of course, that we're always a little bit behind the curve,' he told BBC Breakfast.

Aviation minister Robert Courts told the same programme the decision to suspend all travel corridors was part of efforts to prevent the spread of exactly this.

He said allowing people to travel without having to self-isolate was 'fine back when we were assessing the public health risk from the virus.'

However, he added: 'We've reached the position now where the Joint Biosecurity Centre can't give live scientific updates to predict which countries or regions may originate new variants.'

It comes as aviation bosses warn the industry 'urgently' needs help to survive after the PM's travel ban.

Abta, a trade association of travel agents and tour operators, said the government should provide support 'as a matter of urgency' for the jobs and businesses at risk.

The British Airline Pilots' Association warned the industry would 'not be there to support the post Covid-19 recovery' without 'a clear plan of action and a proper package of support'.

There were also fears from some travel bosses that rarely-used airports might have to be mothballed or given aid to save costs.

Britons obey order to 'stay at home' as anxiety rises to post-April high

Britons obeyed the PM's order to 'stay at home' as the latest lockdown began, but anxiety hit the highest level since the virus was running riot last Spring.

The latest social indicators showed 62 per cent claimed they had either remained indoors or only gone out for 'essential' reasons last week.

That was significantly above than the 41 per cent over Christmas, and the largest proportion since last May.

Meanwhile, anxiety was at a peak not seen since last April, with 42 per cent of adults reporting they were suffering.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade body Airlines UK, told Today: 'What we're saying to the government is clearly this is a national health emergency and ministers need to act to keep the public protected, that's absolutely right, but what we need is a road map out of this, so when the time is right we can remove these restrictions when it's safe to do so and start to look ahead to the spring and summer.

'Easter is the date we've got in mind as to when we can have an aviation sector again because if we don't start to bring in revenue to the sector, we're going to be in a very difficult place indeed.

'We've now had pretty much 12 months without any revenue coming in which is just not sustainable and airlines are effectively staying in business by taking on billions of pounds of debt which will need to be paid back.

'The government did give a period of grace before the introduction for pre-departure testing which was supposed to come into effect yesterday but has been pushed back to 4am on Monday to allow a few days to get these flights back home.

'But in terms of the volume of flights airlines are operating we're talking about less than 10 per cent based on where we would normally be and in terms of long haul flying for places like South America where there are flights a huge number of those are freight only.

'Cargo has been the saving grace for the sector over the last 10 months so a number of airlines have increased the number of cargo flights to bring in some much-needed revenue to the sector.'

Mr Courts said the steps had been taken to prevent the variants from arriving and spreading in the UK and that there were now a 'robust' set of measures lined up.

'When you combine the pre-departure testing we have going live on Monday, the passenger locator form, the quarantine for 10 days and the stepping up of enforcement, we have a strong package of measures in place here to protect the public,' he said.

'There has been a very robust enforcement process thus far. Border Force have conducted about three million spot checks, that's about 25 per cent of all the people who've come into the UK and PHE have been conducting checks on top of that as well.

At a Downing Street briefing on Friday, Boris Johnson warned it was 'not the time to relax' as he escalated controls at the country's borders again

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick. Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o

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