A woman has spoken of her disappointment after new border rules mean she will miss out seeing her brother for the second Christmas in a row.

Katya Fowler, a senior broadcaster for KMTV, was due to travel to France on Christmas Eve to spend a week with her family skiing.

Katya Fowler hasn't seen her brother for two years

Her brother Francis and his wife Michelle, who live in America, were due to join Katya, her parents, and other family, for the special trip.

But following today's announcement that France will shut its border to tourists from the UK this Saturday - amid concerns over new Covid variant Omicron - it means the trip has been cancelled at the last minute.

As such, Katya is now in a position where she doesn't know when she will see her brother again, having already gone two years without a visit.

She said: "We were getting so close to the date we were going to leave and I really thought it was going to happen.

"I do appreciate the situation that is going on at the moment but it is so gutting."

Katya's family make the annual trip to the resort of Les Arcs every Christmas, a chance to catch up and spend quality time together.

But for the second year in a row, they will have to miss out.

She adds: "Last year was a Christmas like no other for a lot of us, so to have what felt like normal back again was such an exciting prospect.
"My brother lives in the states with his wife and it would have been the first time I've seen him in two years.

"Consequently it's just too complicated to work it out to get them over here now.

"I have no idea when I'm going to see him next, and that is a really rubbish thought.

"It's not the skiing I care about, but it was seeing my family and France and going away at Christmas has always been really special to me.

"Our family is all over the world and never get to be together but when we go skiing it's the one time of the year we'll all be together, in one place, in one apartment and it's a week we can catch up and see each other.

"It's family time I'm now going to miss out on and I don't know when going to have that again."

The move to ban UK tourists from France follows yesterday's record number of confirmed cases of the new Covid variant in the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now urging every adult in the country to "get boosted now".

But the cancelled trip comes with other blows, such as the hundreds spent on accommodation, ski passes and PCR tests.

Katya added: "I will still be able to spend time with the majority of my family, which I'm grateful for.

"We're lucky in a sense it was an option for Christmas (to go away). I just wish people had more time."

In the run-up to last Christmas, all freight and passenger traffic was banned from entering France from the UK amid fears the transmission of coronavirus was "out of control".

It resulted in huge queues of stranded lorries on the M20, leaving many drivers unable to get home in time for Christmas.

Today, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed hauliers will be exempt from the ban.

But ferry passengers were being warned that services will be busy tomorrow.