Other European nations suspending flights from Britain to protect themselves from new coronavirus variant

ROME, Italy — Several European Union nations have banned flights from the U.K., most notably Germany, to make sure that a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England does not establish a strong foothold on the continent.

Italy says it too is suspending flights from Britain “to protect Italians” from the new coronavirus variant.

The Netherlands banned flights from the U.K. for at least the rest of the year while Belgium issued a flight ban for 24 hours starting at midnight and also halted train links to Britain.

Austria said it would also halt flights from the U.K. but did not give details on any timing of the ban.

The World Health Organization said it was working with the U.K. to better understand the new variant.