British tourists on Friday rushed to return home before new travel restrictions introduced by the British Government kick in on Saturday.

According to the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, as from 4 a.m on Saturday (0300 GMT) anyone arriving from France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks, Caicos, and Aruba will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

According to their official Twitter account, the Eurotunnel, which connects Britain with continental Europe, was fully booked on Friday.

The Eurostar also tweeted that its trains to the UK were very busy on Friday, urging passengers to stay away from stations unless they had a ticket for its trains, which link Britain with Netherlands and France.

P&O Ferries, which operates between Calais and Dover, also wrote that their boats were busy and urged passengers to only come with a valid booking.

Meanwhile, the BBC and Sky News reported price spikes for flights to Britain on Friday.
France is the second most popular travel destination for Britons after Spain.

It is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of British travelers who will need to quarantine when they return after the deadline.

France’s junior European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune, responded to the announcement on Twitter saying France would take reciprocal measures.

However, the Netherlands on Friday announced it would not impose a mandatory quarantine on travelers arriving from Britain, though it issued a travel warning, based on Foreign Ministry statement.