Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold a Downing Street press conference on Monday afternoon following a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee.

The committee has been convened to discuss the spread of the new coronavirus variant and the response of countries – including France – in banning travel from the UK.

The exact time has not been published yet.

Last night, France put in place a ban on hauliers crossing the English Channel with their cargo.

But despite their intervention last night, today, France appears set to end a ban on hauliers crossing the Channel.

Transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said a protocol would be adopted at a European Union-wide level “to ensure that movement from the UK can resume”.

The UK has been cut off from large parts of Europe – and some other areas of the world – as authorities imposed bans on passengers because of concern about the more infectious mutant coronavirus. Downing Street said the UK Government was in contact with the French authorities about the ban on lorries crossing the channel.

Asked whether Boris Johnson believed the French action was justified, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are obviously working incredibly closely with our international partners and are working urgently to minimise the disruption as far as possible.”

The spokesman added that “we are in close contact with the French to try and get this resolved”.