UPDATED: Travel between Wales and areas of the UK with high rates of coronavirus will not be allowed from 6pm tomorrow

Travel between Wales and areas of the UK with high rates of coronavirus will not be allowed from 6pm tomorrow, First Minister Mark Drakeford has confirmed.

As we reported last night, Wales’ coronavirus regulations will be amended to prohibit travel to and from tier three areas in England; level three and four areas in Scotland and the whole of Northern Ireland, which is currently in lockdown.

This lunchtime Welsh Government have said new travel guidance will be issued “strongly advising people in Wales not to travel to other parts of the UK with lower levels of coronavirus” tier one and two areas in England or level one and two areas in Scotland – to help control the spread of the virus.

It does means travel from Wales to tier 2 areas such as Liverpool and Chester will be possible within the new rules but not tier 3 areas such as Manchester.

People from Wales will be required to follow any legal restrictions, including relating to travel, which are in place in other parts of the UK.

All travel restrictions within the UK will be suspended between 23 and 27 December to allow people to meet members of their Christmas bubble. People travelling to and from Northern Ireland will be able to travel the day before this period starts and the day after.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “There will be no restrictions on travel within Wales but we need to have some restrictions on travel across the border to those parts of the UK where infection rates are high to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“We are also advising people in Wales not to travel into those parts of England and Scotland where the infection rate is lower, to help prevent them taking coronavirus with them.”

“Coronavirus doesn’t respect borders – we all have a part to play in keeping Wales and the UK safe. Please think carefully about where you are going and what you are doing. This virus thrives wherever we come together with others.”

“Taken together with our other measures, these travel restrictions will help to keep us all safe.”

The travel restrictions are likely to remain in place until at least January but Welsh Government say it “will be kept under constant review”.

International travel restrictions will continue and are also likely to remain in place until at least January, and also “will be kept under constant review”.

Original article below from 11:50 PM last night…

New regulations have been published by Welsh Government which detail the forthcoming travel rules for Wales.

The official confirmation announcement is due from Cardiff Bay later today, however the formal regulation document has been published detailing the new rules that will come into force from at 6.00 p.m. on Friday 4th December.

The regulations make the law change for the hospitality closures from Friday evening, along with the usual range of tweaks the documents have regularly provided.

The above section details the changes to Part 2 section 9 that covers “Restriction on travel to and from Wales” in the current regulations:

• “No person living outside Wales may enter or remain in Wales without a reasonable excuse” becomes “No person living in a restricted UK area may enter or remain in Wales without a reasonable excuse.”
• “No person living in Wales may leave Wales without a reasonable excuse” becomes “No person living in Wales may leave Wales for the purposes of entering or remaining in a restricted UK area without a reasonable excuse”
• The new item 6 is added in full as detailed in the above image.

A restricted UK area is defined as a Tier 3 area in England, or Level 3 or 4 area in Scotland, with the previous blanket ban now being specific to just the higher tier areas of England and Scotland.

As a result access to Tier 1 and Tier 2 areas in England are effectively no longer covered by the regulations.

Tier 3 areas of England are banned from Wales without a reasonable excuse.

The below map via ElectionMaps.UK shows the current English tier system in place, with all bordering areas to North Wales being Tier 2.

For those looking to visit nearby Tier 2 areas, these are the rules from UK Government on what Tier 2 means.