Boris Johnson is holding emergency talks with Cabinet ministers as scientists confirmed that the new variant coronavirus was spreading more rapidly.

The move comes amid reports that the Prime Minister could order new travel restrictions for South East England in an attempt to stop it spreading to the rest of the country.

The chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty said the UK had now informed the World Health Organisation that it had concluded the mutant strain could spread more quickly.

“As announced on Monday, the UK has identified a new variant of Covid-19 through Public Health England’s genomic surveillance,” he said in a statement.

“As a result of the rapid spread of the new variant, preliminary modelling data and rapidly rising incidence rates in the South East, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) now consider that the new strain can spread more quickly.

“We have alerted the World Health Organisation and are continuing to analyse the available data to improve our understanding.

“There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments although urgent work is under way to confirm this.

“Given this latest development it is now more vital than ever that the public continue to take action in their area to reduce transmission.”