Germany bans UK travellers in response to Indian Covid variant

The travel ban will come into place from midnight on 23 May.

Germany is to ban Britons from entering after the country's Public Health institute designated the UK as a "virus variant area of concern". From midnight on Sunday, May 23, only German citizens and residents will be allowed to enter the country from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. ITV News reports that wives, husbands and children of German citizens will also be able to enter, as long as the household are travelling together. People will also be able to travel to Germany if it is for an urgent humanitarian reason such as an immediate family bereavement. However anyone entering the country from the UK must quarantine for two weeks on arrival, even if they test negative for coronavirus. People who are only transferring from one flight to another will still be allowed in, although they must remain in the airport transit area. The announcement from Germany comes just days after Spain announced that it was ready to welcome travellers from the UK and lifted restrictions on British visitors. The country's prime minister Pedro Sanchez said that Spain will be "extremely delighted" to receive British tourists again. Spain's travel restrictions will be lifted from Monday. However both Spain and Germany are on the British government's amber list for travel, meaning that travellers arriving from those countries must quarantine at home for 10 days on arrival in the UK. They must also take a pre-departure test and two post-arrival tests.