France has expanded its coronavirus lockdown to the entire country in a bid to drive back soaring infection rates as Europe grapples with a third wave.
President Emmanuel Macron announced every region in the country would be plunged into lockdown for at least a month from Saturday.
Announcing the temporary lockdown on Wednesday, the leader said travel would be strictly limited and schools would be shut again for three weeks.
Mr Macron extended movement restrictions already covering regions including capital Paris to cover the whole of France .
The new lockdowns will see non-essential shops shut along with hospitality businesses such as cafes, bars, and restaurants, and imposed a curfew starting at 7pm.
This brings the whole country in line with cities like Paris, which have had a limited lockdown imposed for the past two weeks.
Mr Macron said the so-called ‘British variant’ of coronavirus was causing particular concern in France, referring to the mutant strain that first emerged in Kent and has since become dominant in the UK and Europe.
He told the nation he was introducing the measures in a desperate bid to curb infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
"We will lose control if we do not move now," the president
said in a televised address to the nation tonight.
Europe's third wave threatens a return to movement between Britain and the continent, as hopes of family reunions and summer holidays hang in the balance.
The UK's international travel bans are set to be lifted from May 17 at the earliest.
However ministers and travel experts have been warning holidaymakers not to book European holidays just yet as the continent grapples with a third wave.
France's fresh lockdown would leave it under restrictions until late April.
Speculation was already mounting in recent days that it could be added to the UK Government's 'red list' of countries.
France had earlier this month relaxed its ban on visitors from several non-EU countries.
It allowed UK visitors to enter if they had a negative PRC Covid test 72 hours before departure, and they must self-isolate for seven days on arrival, before taking another test.
The latest restrictions come after a year of tragedy for France, where the virus has killed 95,337 people and left
intensive care units in the hardest-hit regions at the point of breakdown.
Under the latest lockdown, schools will close for three weeks after Easter, which falls this weekend.
"It is the best solution to slow down the virus," Mr Macron
said, adding that France had succeeded in keeping its schools
open for longer during the pandemic than many neighbours.
‘We are faced with a new situation,’ he said. ‘We are involved in a race. Propagation of a new variant that was identified by our British neighbours’ must be dealt with.
It follows Mr Macron coming under intense criticism for believing that he has become such an expert in the spread of Coronavirus that ‘he is no longer following the advice of scientists.’
The 43-year-old head of state and former merchant banker faced ridicule in recent days over the reports.
Cases in France have spiralled to more than 40,000 positive tests a day, and intensive care wards are overflowing.
France is lagging behind the UK in its vaccine rollout, especially after a series of U-turns by Mr Macron over the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab.
He at first said it was not suitable for those over 65, before announcing that it should not be given to those under 55 amid blood clot fears.
The European Medicines Agency was forced to reiterate the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe today after Germany said it would suspend the rollout for under-60s.
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