Less than a week ago, Boris Johnson said it would be inhuman to cancel Christmas. But on Saturday, the prime minister effectively did just that for millions of people in London and the southeast of England.

Before the new Tier 4 rules came in, transport hubs began filling up as travellers fled - despite a plea from the country's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty to unpack bags and stay home.

A succession of countries began closing their borders with the UK following that announcement, which sent festive spirit plummeting.

But with the new COVID variant - first spotted in September - now spreading, has the government's move already come too late?

On this edition of the Sky News Daily podcast with Dermot Murnaghan, we are joined by our politics presenter Sophy Ridge to examine the fallout.

Dermot also speaks to chair of the British Medical Association, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, and Jacqui Semple, who chairs the Emergency Planning Society.

Daily podcast team:
Podcast producer - Annie Joyce
Podcast producer - Nicola Eyers
Podcast producer – Emma Rae Woodhouse
Interviews producer - Oli Foster
Archive - Simon Windsor
Music - Steven Wheeler