Major London stocks plummeted on Monday to near their three-week lows amid the new lockdown measures in the UK, which were prompted by the spread of the new mutated coronavirus.
The FTSE 100 lost 2.1% of its value, while BP and Royal Dutch Shell sank nearly 5 %.
The air traffic ban also affected the shares of IAG, Wizz Air Holdings and EasyJet, that lost between 11% to 16%. InterContinental Hotels Group stocks shed 4%.
Brexit uncertainty also factored into the market's fears, as FTSE 250, often viewed as 'Brexit-sensitive', lost 2.8%, while Lloyds and Barclays were down by over 5%.
On Saturday, the UK government virtually locked down parts of the country, including London, after admitting that more than half of all new COVID-19 cases had been caused by a mutated coronavirus strain that can be transmitted up to 70 percent faster. As UK citizens rushed out of the locked down areas ahead of Christmas, many countries have chosen to halt travel to/from the United Kingdom in a bid to prevent the arrival of the new strain.