Coronavirus: Welsh First Minister urges English not to travel to Wales this weekend

People from England wanting to travel to beauty spots in Wales this weekend will "find they are on the wrong side of the law", the first minister has warned.

Mark Drakeford said "now is not the right moment" for people from outside of Wales to cross the border, as he unveiled the country's new traffic light system to help ease the coronavirus lockdown.

He told Sky News: "My message to people in England is please visit Wales later.

"We are very keen to welcome people and always have been, but now is not the right moment.

"In Wales the law is that you can only travel locally. So people travelling long distances to come into Wales will find they are on the wrong side of the law."

He told a press conference in Cardiff that police officers along the border in North and West Wales have been forced to "educate and persuade" English motorists to go home every weekend since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

Roadsigns will be put in place to discourage people from travelling to the country during the hot weather this weekend, he added.

He told Sky correspondent Dan Whitehead that he wished the differences between England and Wales's approaches to easing the lockdown had been "clearer from the outset", but said he does not think the UK government's methods have been "irresponsible".

Mr Drakeford said: "Our message to our friends and colleagues in England is visit Wales, but do it later, now is not the time to do it."

People in England have been allowed to travel as far as they want for exercise since Wednesday, providing they do not cross into Scotland or Wales.

According to the first minister, Wales is still in the "black" zone of its new traffic light system, which means people should continue to stay at home as far as possible.

The traffic light colours do not have any dates attached to them, but could see more children whose parents are key workers return to school before the summer holidays.

Earlier he told Sky News pubs and restaurants in Wales "will not open anytime soon", but the "first cautious steps" will mean some minor changes.