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The Royal Mail has suspended mail deliveries to Europe after a travel ban brought in following the discovery of a mutant coronavirus strain.
Countries around the world have shut their borders to travellers from the UK because of concerns over the more infectious variant of the virus.
The postal service announced on Monday night that it has now halted all mail services to continental Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Ireland.
It said the situation was being “closely monitored”.
In an update on its website it said: “This is a fast-moving situation and we are monitoring things on an hourly basis. We are working to keep as many international mail services running as possible given the current restrictions around air, road, ferry and train movements from the UK.
“Royal Mail has temporarily suspended all mail services to Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Ireland.
“We are keeping the situation under close and constant review.
“Customers should check our website for regular updates.”
The Royal Mail said items already in its system would be “processed as normal and made ready for dispatch”.
It added: “These items will be held securely until we are able to get them to their relevant destinations.
“We’re closely monitoring the situation and are ready to open our services as soon as we are able to once the restrictions have been lifted. We continue to explore all options.”
It said delays were also being experienced to Canada and Turkey because of “severely limited” air capacity.
The update continued: “We’re working with our airline and postal/courier partners across the globe to maintain services, however delays should be expected.
“Many countries have implemented special measure to combat the spread of coronavirus COVID-19, especially for signature service to maintain social distancing.
“The number of countries we can access is changing daily.”
