Parcels into and out of the UK have been caught up in the suspension of flights and freight over fears of the new coronavirus variant.
Royal Mail has suspended deliveries of packages and letters to mainland Europe, Canada and Turkey, while the German firm Deutsche Post has temporarily halted services to Great Britain and Ireland.
In a statement on its website on Monday morning, Royal Mail said the closure of the port of Dover and flight bans were causing “significant disruption” to international services.
It said it was unclear how long this would last, and that it was “seeking alternative access points pending the opening of borders”, but in the meantime it advised customers not to attempt to send items to a long list of destinations.
In a later update, Royal Mail told customers that this was “a fast-moving situation and we are monitoring things on an hourly basis”, and advised people to look out for the latest details on its website.
It said items that were already in the system would be made ready for dispatch and held securely until they could be delivered.
“We’re closely monitoring the situation and are ready to open our services as soon as we are able to once the restrictions have been lifted. We continue to explore all options,” it said.
“We’re working with our airline and postal/courier partners across the globe to maintain services, however delays should be expected.”
Post to the Republic of Ireland has not been affected.
Consumers had reported on Twitter that Post Offices were telling them of the international mail suspension, with one saying that the news came after they had paid for delivery.
Deutsche Post said it was temporarily suspending services in the opposite direction.
“We have sadly been forced to impose a complete stop on deliveries for private and business packages and goods-bearing letters to Great Britain and Ireland until further notice”, said a spokesperson for Deutsche Post DHL, which is the world’s largest courier company.
Because of a lack of storage capacity, packages sent over the weekend would be returned to the sender.
Letters and postcards were not affected by the ban, said the spokesperson. Air freight deliveries via DHL Express’s Time Definite international service would also still be delivered.
The closure of travel routes could not have come at a worst time for delivery firms, which were already experiencing a surge in demand, accelerated by the latest restrictions on retail and travel out of tier 4 areas.
Along with deliveries for online shopping, those who are unable to travel to meet family over Christmas have turned to the postal service to deliver their presents.
Royal Mail has also brought forward its deadline for special deliveries ahead of Christmas after the introduction of tier 4 restrictions in London and parts of south-east England led to increased demand from customers.
Royal Mail said it would no longer accept items for guaranteed special delivery on Wednesday, and that the final day for the service would be Tuesday 22 December.
It added: “While we cannot currently provide a guarantee that items posted on Wednesday 23 December will arrive prior to Christmas due to the impact of the new coronavirus restrictions, we can assure you that we will be endeavouring to deliver all items as quickly as possible. We know how important this is.
The firm said that despite its “best efforts and significant investment in extra resource” some customers may be experiencing delays.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “In light of the changing coronavirus restrictions, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily amend our timed guarantees for our Special Delivery by 9am and 1pm services … Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9.00am and Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1.00pm. Items posted up to and including Tuesday 22 December remain unchanged.”
