British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in London on December 20, 2020. -
KGC-254 / STAR MAX / IPx / AP / SIPA
The British executive wants to act quickly so as not to find itself in a situation of shortage.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a crisis meeting on UK supplies on Monday.
Several countries including France have indeed just suspended their links because of the new strain of coronavirus considered by London to be "out of control".
Following European restrictions vis-à-vis the United Kingdom, the port of Dover (south-east), the main English cross-Channel port, announced Sunday to close for outgoing traffic "until further notice".
According to the British Road Transport Association, some 10,000 heavy goods vehicles pass through it every day.
The impact of Brexit
Above all, this closure falls particularly badly as English ports are currently experiencing massive traffic, sometimes causing delays and traffic jams on the roads leading there, as many companies are stockpiling to prepare for the UK's exit from the single market European on the evening of December 31.
"We expect significant disturbances in the area," tweeted Transport Minister Grant Shapps, saying he was working on "emergency measures" to minimize the impact.
The new variant of SARS-CoV-2 prompted the British government to urgently reconfine on Sunday the 16 million inhabitants of London and the south-east of England, forced to put aside their Christmas reunion.
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