Only British or Irish nationals or those with residency in the UK could re-enter the country.

The restrictions were first imposed last month in order to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Some critics had described the measure as racist as only African nations appeared on the red list.

Initially they were all in southern Africa, including South Africa and Botswana, where Omicron was first identified, but Nigeria was later added.

The 11 countries affected are:

Angola
Botswana
Eswatini
Lesotho
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
Nigeria
South Africa
Zambia
Zimbabwe
The restrictions will be lifted at 04:00 GMT on Wednesday.

"Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the country the travel red list lis now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad," Health Minster Sajid Javid told the UK's parliament.