The UK government has banned travel to the UK from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Burundi and Rwanda to prevent the spread of the new variant originally identified in South Africa into the UK.
There will also be a flight ban on direct passenger flights from the UAE.
The new rule comes into force at 1pm on Friday 29 January and means that anyone who has been in or transited through the three countries in the last ten days will no longer be granted access, except for British and Irish nationals, or third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK, who will need to self-isolate for ten days at home.
Any exemptions usually in place will not apply, including for business travel.
Passengers returning from the 33 countries on the government’s red list cannot reduce their quarantine through the test to release scheme.
The news follows this week's announcement of mandatory hotel quarantine for all travellers arriving from countries on the list, details of which will be announced next week.