People from the UAE living in London will not be able to return home for Christmas after new restrictions were announced on Saturday.
London and parts of England will be placed under strict lockdown measures from Sunday and overseas travel from those areas will be banned, unless for work.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the new restrictions on Saturday following the rapid spread of a new strain of Covid-19.
People returning from the UAE will not be able to join any family members at Christmas if they live in an area facing the new highest restrictions, which includes London, the east and south-east of England.
Residents living in other parts of the UK will only be allowed to see family on Christmas Day.
Previously the government had said there would be a five-day window when three different households could mix.
But in London and other Tier 4 areas no household mixing will be allowed at Christmas.
People living in those areas have been ordered to stay at home.
Just hours after Mr Johnson's announcement a mass departure began of people desperate to leave the capital before the midnight curfew came into effect.
One train company told The National that within two hours of Mr Johnson's speech many trains to the north of the country leaving Kings Cross on Saturday night had been reserved.
Mr Johnson had held urgent talks with his Cabinet on Saturday to assess the latest Covid-19 threat.
He later addressed the nation flanked by the government's chief medical and scientific advisers, and announced new measures.
The new measures will come into effect at midnight on Saturday and will be reviewed on December 30.
