´óÏó´«Ã½

German Chancellor Angel Merkel will visit the UK next Friday, just a few weeks after she called for the EU to quarantine holidaying Britons.

Mrs Merkel and Boris Johnson last met at the G7 summit in Cornwall earlier this month.

Downing Street says the global response to the coronavirus pandemic will be on the agenda at their talks.

The two leaders will also discuss post-Brexit relations between the UK and Germany.

Mrs Merkel - who is due to leave office in the autumn - is embarking on a series of visits before standing down.

It is understood she will also visit the US President, Jo Biden later in the same month.

She provoked controversy in the UK recently with her call for other EU countries to follow Germany's example and force all holidaying Britons to go in to isolation on arrival, amid concerns about spreading the Delta variant.

Mrs Merkel told Germany's parliament: "In our country, if you come from Great Britain, you have to go into quarantine - and that's not the case in every European country, and that's what I would like to see."

Currently, people travelling from the UK to Greece, Spain and Portugal are not required to quarantine. Those going to Italy have to self-isolate for five days then take a test, while fully-vaccinated UK visitors to France can enter without quarantining.

Boris Johnson responded to her comments at the time saying "double jabs do offer a good way forward" and he thought "they offer the hope of travel this summer".

The row has spilled over in to the Euro 2020 football tournament, with Mrs Merkel warning against "packed stadiums" at Wembley ahead of England's match against Germany next Tuesday.

German fans have been encouraged not to travel to London ahead of the much-anticipated game.