The isolation measure also applies in the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Aruba, amid considerations of the increase in the number of Cases of Covid.
Eurotunnel trains were sold and air fares were up to six times higher than normal, but ferries had a higher capacity.
France has warned of “reciprocal measures.”
The Netherlands has opposed all the unsuspected UK once the restrictions come into force on Saturday, but they said they would not introduce reciprocal measures.
Countries were subject to quarantine restrictions because their infection rates exceeded 20 cases per 100,000 more people over seven days, said Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps.
There were about 160,000 British tourists in France when the adjustments were announced, and the delay left many travelers on a frantic run for plane, exercise or ferry tickets that cost a lot of pounds.
Kim Wells and her circle of relatives were on one of the last ferries to reach the UK before quarantine measures began, arriving at Newhaven from Dieppe in northern France with eight minutes to spare.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today show that he had had “40 pretty complicated minutes” online after learning about the restrictions via a BBC News alert.
“I ended up booking a ferry on a fairly outdated itinerary … was to return to Eurotunnel, as we originally went to France,” he said.
Mr Wells is an instructor and his wife is a local government employee. They felt they shortened their vacation to avoid having to be quarantined because they are key workers.
Wells said he was frustrated by the government’s brief understanding of rule-change, adding, “I fully sense the decision, but I’m thinking 30 hours and utter at 11 p.m. French time.” Array was unrealistic.
“I don’t really understand why they can’t be a little bit more clear with the public about what the tipping point is, when we might perhaps be approaching the need to quarantine. Why not 48 or even 72 [hours] just to allow those who need to or want to get home, get home without rushing dangerously.”
Kate Mooney and her circle of relatives returned to Cornwall around 01:00 BST after completing their holiday in France a week earlier.
“Our immediate reaction was ‘just to stay and end our vacation,’ and then we started thinking about what quarantine meant,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“There would be no way for us to leave the spaceArray … that’s when we’ll be back.”
Tom Duffell, who runs a small business and ended his circle of family vacations in Nice four days earlier, told the BBC that social estrangement “goes out of the window” in the shipping race, with “huge queues” at the airport.
Eurotunnel, which has a larger capacity, said that another 12,000 people had tried to book e-tickets for their English Channel Tunnel trains within one hour of the announcement of the new regulations, around 22:00 BST on Thursday, so that they are only charged normally.
It carried more than 30,000 passengers as the deadline approached. An additional body of workers was sent to the terminals to allow 11,600 cars to temporarily load their shuttles on Friday.
P-O Ferries and DFDS Ferries also added 4 more departures.
Meanwhile, an organization of Scottish musicians has discovered an artistic work to overcome the deadline with just 10 minutes to spare: rent a fishing boat to bring them back to the UK.
After a five-hour crossing across the English Channel, 8 members of Dunedin Consort in Scotland arrived at Hayling Island in Hampshire at 03:50.
They made the last-minute shot after a at Lessay Abbey in Normandy on Friday night.
Some couldn’t get home in time. A passenger arriving at Gatwick shortly after the deadline told BBC Radio 4: “It’s ridiculous. They leave us in the air. We try to replace our FlightsArray … Impossible.
“The children and I went to Cornwall and the Lake District this summer and I don’t think it seemed more threatened than where we were: in a rural component of France.”
Another said: “It’s a shame to have lost him with such a narrow margin, but it’s life, so we have to move on.”
A woman wonders if her rare between France and Britain later in the day will not respect travel regulations.
Australian Chloe McCardel, 35, aims to end her 35th swim across the English Channel. If successful, he will break the existing men’s record for maximum English Channel crosses, held through British athlete Kevin Murphy.
He plans to leave Dover at 20:00 BST and aims to make the 21-mile journey to Calais in about 10 hours, before returning to his service ship for the return trip.
As he will only stay on French soil for a few minutes, McCardel hopes it’s not to spend 14 days isolated on his return.
“We’re not going to approach border or passport officers, so technically I hope quarantine doesn’t apply,” he said.
“I have a little party planned in England with the help team, the team, the volunteers who have been so helpful in this. So I hope the government will allow us to do that without having to quarantine ourselves.”
Gloria Guevara, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council, said the UK lags behind other countries that have “avoided quarantine” in favor of “full” testing programmes for all who leave and return to their respective countries.
Shadow Interior Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said that while the Labour Party edited “evidence-based measures” at the border, it was “vital” that the number 10 had a “joint strategy” and put “urgently” an express agreement with the most affected travel sector.
He added: “The fact that the government has still put in place an effective formula for tracking, traceability and isolation has made things worse and we most likely have the strong 14-day quarantine tool.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs now warns against everything still essential for France.
According to the Statista knowledge corporation, the British made 10.35 million visits to France last year, which caught the eye of Spain – with 18.12 million – in terms of popularity.
Earlier last month a list of more than 50 of the so-called corridors was published, allowing between the UK and other countries without wanting to isolate themselves on the return, and then expanded.
But then quarantine measures were re-imposed in several countries, Spain on 25 July.
On Friday, France reported 2846 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, the number since the rest of the blocking restrictions. The seven-day average rose to 2,041, marking the first time it has exceeded 2,000 since April 20, an increase of 66% week after week.
In the case of the Netherlands, it increased by 52%. And accumulation for Malta 105%, while 273% for the Turks and Caicos Islands and 1,106% for Aruba.
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