Heathrow says it is ‘impossible’ for passengers to be socially-distanced as travellers returning to the UK blast hour-long queues on another day of chaos after negative Covid test rule was enforced

Sharing a picture of the queues at Heathrow Airport today, Rav wrote: ‘I’m predicting a good hour to get through the UK Border at Heathrow this morning. E-gates offline, presumably for Covid tests and passenger locator form checks.’

Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis shared a picture of the busy passport control area in Heathrow Airport- which she later deleted.

The caption read: ‘200 plus British passport holders queuing to get home (in constricted space).’

Former British ambassador to Turkey Peter Westmacott shared his own picture yesterday and wrote: ‘T2 Heathrow Friday afternoon. No ventilation. Long delays. Superspreading.’ 

Sajiv Mathew shared another image, adding: ‘Surely there is a more efficient way to verify passenger documentation. Hundreds of passengers including children and the elderly, have been waiting in line for almost two hours.’

Clare Rathsack shared a picture of a queue in Terminal 2, writing: ‘Ridiculous. So few flights and complete chaos at T2 border control. Sort it out.’ 

In response to mounting concern over the large queues, a Heathrow Airport spokesperson told Sky News: ‘We’ve been clear since last May that social distancing in an airport environment isn’t really possible.

‘To put that in context, if you had one aircraft of let’s say 300 people, you’d need a queue about 1km long to socially distance just one aircraft, which is why last summer we mandated face coverings in the airport.’

A Government spokesperson yesterday said: ‘We are in a national lockdown to protect the NHS and save lives. People should not be travelling unless absolutely necessary. 

‘You must have proof of a negative test and a completed passenger locator form before arriving. 

‘Border Force have been ramping up enforcement and those not complying could be fined £500.

‘It’s ultimately up to individual airports to ensure social distancing on site.’ 

Heathrow said that ‘Border Force is currently experiencing some delays’ getting through the passenger checks, and the airport has measures to remind people of what rules are in place. 

A spokesperson told MailOnline today: ‘We have extensive signage throughout the airport – including in immigration halls – reminding passengers to adhere to the Government’s social distancing guidance, but there are points in the airport journey where social distancing is not always possible. 

‘That is why face coverings are mandatory throughout the terminals, as they help to reduce the risk of transmission at the airport.’ 

Long queues in airports come as Boris Johnson refused to rule out tough new measures including enforced quarantine in specially designated hotels. 

Currently travellers arriving in the UK are allowed to disembark and quarantine at their own homes or their destination accommodation. The self-isolation lasts 10 days, cut to five if they receive a negative test result.

But this system relies on people following the rules and there are concerns over low levels of compliance that could allow the virus to spread.

Instead the Government is believed to be examining plans to place arrivals in a hotel to quarantine after arriving, to ensure the rules are not broken.

Arrivals would potentially have to pay for their stays while they self-isolate for 10 days, or even a fortnight. There are reports today that negotiations are already taking place with hotel chains, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was in favour. 

The powerful Covid O Cabinet sub-committee is due to discuss the ideas over the coming days – although a final decision is not likely until next week.

This has been attempted here but not since the early days of the pandemic and that was only on a small scale. 

Using GPS tags to ensure compliance is also believed to have been considered. 

This would see arrivals slapped with electronic devices that show if they are staying at home as required. The measure is currently limited to use with convicted criminals on parole and those awaiting trial while on bail.

It is likely it would lead to enormous civil liberties protests and complaints about the likely huge cost of such a plan, which would involve potentially monitoring thousands of people. 

Officials have also looked at the arrangements in Poland, where isolating individuals face ‘enhanced monitoring’.

That includes being contacted once a day and made to send a picture of themselves at the location where they are meant to be quarantining.

The pictures are validated using facial-recognition technology and GPS data.

However, the option is thought to have been rejected as too intrusive and difficult to implement on scale.

Mr Johnson told the nation making it too easy for a strain of coronavirus that originated in South Africa – which may be more resistant to vaccines - to enter would under all the hard work put in by locked down Britons  

Desperate wrangling is going on within the Cabinet over the shape of the restrictions, set to be finalised at a meeting of the core Covid O sub-committee on Monday.

A range of escalations are being considered to combat the global spread of variants, with a full border closure to foreign nationals still on the table. 

However, the most likely outcome is a version of the enforced isolation system used by countries such as Australia and New Zealand.

Asked whether new border measures were coming, at last night’s press conference, Mr Johnson said: ‘I really don’t rule it out, we may need to take further measures still.

‘We may need to go further to protect our borders.

‘We don’t want to put that [all the effort to control the virus] at risk by having a new variant come back in.’

It was yesterday revealed that Britain faces becoming a global pariah as countries around the world consider tougher travel restrictions in a bid to keep out the UK’s ‘more deadly’ Covid strain.

EU leaders are said to be drawing up a blue-print which could see travel banned from the UK to all of the union’s member states.

It come as the Netherlands is set to ban all passenger flights and ferry travel from the UK tonight.

Portugal last night banned travel both to and from Britain due to fears over the new variant.

And more countries could now follow suit after Boris Johnson and top scientific advisers warned the UK’s mutant strain could be 30 per cent more deadly than older versions of the virus.

Meanwhile, cases of the UK variant have now been confirmed in both America and Canada.

Officials in the Philippines, which had banned incoming UK flights over Christmas, said 16 cases of Britain’s mutant strain had also been discovered. 

One case of the UK strain had previously been detected on the South East Asian islands, the country’s Department of Health said. 

But officials say a further 12 cases have now been found in the Bontoc Mountain region, one case in the La Trinidad area and one case in Calamba City.

Another two cases are said to have been brought in from Lebanon, health officials say.

In Canada’s Nova Scotia region health chiefs reported one confirmed case of the UK variant and another of the South African variant.

And in New Jersey, US, officials reported their first two cases of the UK Covid strain. 

Meanwhile, EU leaders have reportedly drawn-up a travel blueprint that could lead to a ban on passengers from the UK.

EU officials held discussions this week over border controls, including between member states, with new measures set to be announced on Monday.

These could include bans on travel from countries outside the bloc, such as the UK.

The European commission president Ursula von der Leyen said member states were ‘free to impose further-reaching temporary bans on entry and on transporting passengers entering from third countries with virus variant areas’. 

The Netherlands are one country to impose tighter restrictions – banning passenger flights and ferries from the UK and Northern Ireland from tonight. 

Hawks led by Priti Patel and Matt Hancock are pushing for blanket mandatory ‘hotel quarantine’ plans in the UK, with sources insisting the policy will be ‘worthless’ unless it covers all travellers.

But Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are said to be lobbying for a more nuanced approach.

That could see measures targeted on arrivals from high-risk countries, or just foreign nationals who usually will not have homes in the UK where they can isolate safely.

Tory MPs told MailOnline that the measures will ‘kill’ the travel industry, and urged the government to make sure they are ‘highly targeted’.   

Environment Secretary George Eustice has refused to rule out even more drastic action, with foreigners barred from coming to the UK altogether.    

Asked about the possibility, Mr Eustice told Sky News: ‘We always keep these things under review. And it has been considered.

‘There is concern at the moment about the number of mutant strains.’ 

The Environment Secretary told Sky News today a full border closure to all visitors from abroad has been considered, adding that there ‘is concern at the moment about the number of mutant strains’. 

But later he told LBC: ’It’s right that we are cautious about travel, but we don’t think it’s right at the moment to close it down altogether and close the border.’

Ministers have long pushed against a total shutdown of all but essential foreign traffic, arguing that it would simply be too damaging for the economy as a whole and airlines in particular. 

However Home Secretary Priti Patel broke ranks this week to reveal she argued in favour of the move as early as last March.

Ms Patel said on the question of whether British borders should have been closed earlier ‘the answer is yes, I was an advocate of closing them last March’.

The remarks, made during a Zoom call last night with the Conservative Friends of India group and first published by the Guido Fawkes website, will pile the pressure on Mr Johnson. 

Any new restrictions would be a further blow to the beleaguered travel industry and put the holiday plans of millions at risk.

Mr Sunak and Mr Shapps are pushing against new travel measures over the ‘severe’ impact they would have on aviation, one of the hardest hit sectors during the pandemic, and the wider economy. 

But Ms Patel and Mr Hancock are eager to enforce harsher rules to stop mutant strains from entering the country, potentially undermining the vaccine operation.