A growing list of European Union countries and beyond banned travel from the U.K on Sunday, December 20, in a bid to curb a new strain of coronavirus from spreading to the rest of the continent.

Local media reports indicate that the variant has, previously, been detected across Southern England.

So far, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Israel and Canada have shut imposed travel restrictions to and from the country. Other countries include Austria, Ireland and Bulgaria.

Reports indicate that more EU countries are likely to take similar action.

The move follows a recent warning by the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who, on Saturday, December 19, warned that a highly infectious new strain of the virus was a danger to the country. According to Reuters, Johnson is expected to chair an emergency response meeting today, to discuss international travel, in particular the flow of freight in and out of Britain.

The country has also announced that shopping and gatherings in Southern England must be cancelled because of the rapidly spreading infections blamed on the new coronavirus variant.

On Saturday, The World Health Organisation tweeted that it was "in close contact with U.K officials on the new Covid-19 variant” and promised to update governments and the public as more is learned.