Sainsbury warned that some products may be missing from shelves due to port restrictions, but said traditional Christmas lunch food is already available and available in the country.

The supermarket chain has moved to calm customers after closing Dover to trucks leaving the UK, while warning them that some items may not be available.

Freight trucks cannot transit by sea or the Eurotun Tunnel to mainland Europe for the next two days.

Dover Port is also closed to outbound traffic.

As a result of the ensuing mess, Sainsbury said some fresh vegetables may not be available.

A company spokesperson said: “All the products for the Great British Christmas Brunch are already in the country and we have a lot of them.

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“We are also supplying everything we can from the UK and looking for alternative modes of transportation for products sourced from Europe.

“If nothing changes, we’ll start to see gaps in the coming days in lettuce, some salad leaves, broccoli, cauliflower and citrus fruits – all imported from the continent at this time of year.

“We hope that the British and French governments will be able to find a mutually acceptable solution that gives priority to the immediate passage of products and any other foodstuffs at the ports.”

Transportation Secretary Grant Shaps has warned of the potential for “significant disruption” near the Kent border due to the travel ban issued.

Richard Burnett, president of the Road Transport Association, told the BBC’s Today program the 48-hour ban could deter European Union carriers from coming to the UK due to concerns that they would end up stranded.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “As Christmas approaches, we are looking forward to 48 hours at this time in terms of restrictions, and we are likely to see Operation Stack taking shape in terms of the number of vehicles on the UK side and that could be a deterrent to workers. Transport in the European Union if they want to get very close to Christmas and end up being stranded here, which is part of the challenge we face today.

If this is the case, timely shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables from the continent may not be able to reach the country.

Boris Johnson Crisis talks will take place with senior ministers and officials today as countries around the world ban flights from the UK.

They react to the news that a mutant strain of Corona Virus “Out of control” in the UK, according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Before the meeting of the Cobra Committee chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr. Shabs said that emergency measures had been taken to deal with the backlog of trucks heading to the canal ports.

But he sought to minimize the potential impact, stressing that container shipping was not affected by the French travel ban.

Along with France, countries around the world announced travel restrictions to the United Kingdom after the detection of a new highly contagious strain spread across southeast England.

French Health Minister Olivier Ferrand said the new variant – VUI 202012/01 – was already in circulation there, although tests had not detected it.

In addition to affecting freight flows from Dover and the Canal Tunnel in Folkestone, the disruption will leave passengers stranded in the run-up to Christmas.

Shaps tried to assuage concerns about the broader impact of the French decision.

The transport minister said that the transporters were “used to expecting disruptions,” adding that there were differences in supply “all the time.”

Shabs said that he was speaking with his French counterpart Jean-Baptiste Jabbari and told Sky News: “The absolute key is to solve this problem as quickly as possible.”

Asked if consumers would see a shortage of supermarkets, Mr. Shaps said, “The supply chain is very strong as you get supply differences all the time. And often, people won’t notice that.”

He confirmed that the abandoned Manston Airport in Kent would be used as a park for trucks, while Operation Stack – precautionary measures used to queue on the M20 whenever a canal malfunction occurred – was already in place.

More to track.