RT @firefoxx66
Is the new UK variant the same as the new South African variant (501Y.V2)?

No.

They both share the same mutation in spike: N501Y (N->Y at position 501). However, the 2 variants have arisen separately.

1/N

https://nextstrain.org/groups/neherlab/ncov/S.N501?c=gt-S_501,69&p=grid&r=country