UK tightens borders and travel rules as variants spark new alarm

PHE data indicates dominant variant more likely to cause serious illness' as Grant Shapps warns of threat to reopening on 21 June

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Ministers have moved to tighten Britain's borders as new data suggests the Delta coronavirus variant is much more likely to cause serious illness and is circulating more rapidly within schools.

With England's reopening on 21 June hanging in the balance, the government removed Portugal from the green list of countries and added seven more countries to the red list - moves that provoked fury within the travel industry and left many holidaymakers in limbo.