UK flights banned as Britain warns new virus strain 'out of control'

European countries started banning flights coming from the U.K. on Dec. 20 as government in London warned that a potent new strain of the virus was "out of control".

Following the example of the Netherlands, where a ban on all U.K. passenger flights came into effect on Dec. 20, a German government source said Berlin, too, was considering a similar move as "a serious option" for flights from both Britain and South Africa.

The Dutch ban came into effect from 6:00 am (0500 GMT) and will last until January 1. And neighbouring Belgium also said it was suspending flight and train arrivals from Britain from midnight.

The moves come as around a third of England's population entered a Christmas lockdown and U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that the new strain of virus was "out of control".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said the day before that millions of Britons would have to cancel their Christmas plans and stay home because the new strain was spreading far more quickly.

Speaking on Sky News, Hancock said the situation was "deadly serious."

"It's going to be very difficult to keep it under control until we have the vaccine rolled out," he said.

It seems that scientists first discovered the new variant in a patient in September.

Susan Hopkins of Public Health England told Sky News that the agency notified the government on Dec. 18 when modelling revealed the full seriousness of the new strain.

She confirmed a figure given by Johnson that the new virus strain could be 70 percent more transmissible.

Last week, Europe has become the first region in the world to pass 500,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic broke out a year ago, killing more than 1.6 million worldwide and pitching the...