Britons told not to travel abroad

THE Foreign and Commonwealth Office is now advising British people against all but essential travel worldwide.

They said this advice will come into effect immediately and last for 30 days “due to unprecedented international border closures and other restrictions”.

Announcing the decision in a Commons statement, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs: “Based on the fastchanging international circumstances today I am announcing changes to FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) travel advice.

“UK travellers abroad now face widespread international border restrictions and lockdowns in various countries.

“The FCO will always consider the safety and the security of British nationals so with immediate effect I’ve taken the decision to advise British nationals against non-essential travel globally for an initial period of 30 days and of course subject to ongoing review.”

He said: “Following today’s change in travel advice, British nationals who decide that they still need to travel abroad should do so fully aware of the increased risks of doing so and that obviously includes the risk that they may not be able to get home if travel restrictions are subsequently put in place that they hadn’t anticipated.”

He added that the Foreign Office is working urgently to ensure governments have sensible plans to enable the return of British and other travellers, and to keep borders open for long enough to enable returns to take place on commercial flights wherever possible.

Mr Raab’s measures follow the European Union announcing plans for a 30day ban on non-residents entering the bloc. The restrictions are not expected to apply to Britons.

To date, more than 185,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed worldwide.

China remains the country with the highest number of infections at more than 81,000.

Italy and Iran follow for the second and third highest number of cases with 27,000 and 11,000 respectively.