Covid: Travellers from Canary Islands must self-isolate from Saturday
The Canary Islands have been removed from the UK travel corridor list, meaning travellers returning from the Spanish islands must self-isolate.
The changes come into force from 4am on Saturday morning - with people landing back in the UK from the islands facing a period of quarantine.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps also announced Botswana and Saudi Arabia had been added to the list.
It means, as of 4am on Saturday, those returning from the two countries will not need to self-isolate.
Mr Shapps tweeted that "weekly cases and positive tests" were increasing in the Canary Islands according to latest data.
Ministers’ decision to remove the Canary Islands from the list of Travel Corridors has been based on a sharp increase in test positivity, currently at 7.1% for the Canaries collectively and 8.8% for the island of Tenerife.
The latest decision on the Spanish Islands is a major below to the UK travel industry, which has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Many firms recorded a surge in bookings for the Canary Islands when they were added to the travel corridors list in October.
Mr Shapps said their removal was due to a rise in weekly cases and positive tests of the virus.
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: "It’s utterly devastating news for the thousands of British travellers who booked to go to the Canaries for Christmas and New Year.
"It’s also a body blow for travel firms who’d seen an uplift in bookings for the winter after the Canaries were added to the travel corridor list.
"It now means thousands of refunds and lost bookings for a sector that needed the Canaries to help them recover."