A Gloucestershire travel agent has criticised government 'lack of clarity' over the rapidly developing international situation surrounding the new Omicron Covid variant.

Six African countries have now been added to the 'red list' - South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe.

A total of nine cases have been reported in the UK, six of them in Scotland.

Wendy Walker, of Wotton Travel, based in Wotton Under Edge, said: "It's been a difficult weekend for the travel trade once more and it has been a fast-moving picture with the usual lack of official information or clarity from the Government."

She said the reactivation of countries to the red list had brought reports of some passengers experiencing difficulty in sourcing a pre-departure test or these tests 'timing out' before the required three days from departure of last sector into the UK - a problem for passengers transiting and then having a delay in their flights.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that all international arrivals to the UK will now have to take a Day 2 PCR test and self-isolate until they receive a negative test.

This comes into effect from 4am tomorrow, 30th November.

After that time lateral flow tests will no longer be accepted and all travellers arriving into UK will be required to book and take COVID-19 PCR tests.

UKHSA designated variant B.1.1.529 - the omicron variant - as a variant under investigation (VUI) on Thursday last week. It was designated a variant of concern (VOC) on Saturday.

UKHSA says: "As viruses mutate often and at random, it is not unusual for small numbers of cases to arise featuring new sets of mutations. Any variants showing evidence of spread are rapidly assessed."