Last modified on Mon 14 Dec 2020 23.37 EST
More than 60% of England faces winter under the toughest Covid restrictions, with pubs and restaurants forced to close before Christmas amid warnings of a new strain of the virus.
In London and parts of the south-east, 10 million people will enter tier 3 measures on Wednesday, the health secretary announced – less than two weeks after a national lockdown designed to suppress surging coronavirus cases.
After a week of uplifting news from the start of the vaccine rollout, Matt Hancock said it was a “salutary warning for the whole country” as he urged people to minimise all social contact. “This isn’t over yet,” he said, placing London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire under tier 3 and bringing the number of people under the strictest rules to 34 million.