Covid-19: Christmas rules tightened for England, Scotland and Wales
The planned relaxation of Covid rules for Christmas has been scrapped for large parts of south-east England and cut to just Christmas Day for the rest of England, Scotland and Wales.
From midnight, a new tier four will be introduced in areas including London, Kent, Essex and Bedfordshire.
Elsewhere in England, Scotland and Wales, relaxed indoor mixing rules are cut from five days to Christmas Day.
Those in tier four cannot mix indoors with anyone not from their household.
What is tier four and who is in it?
Should you see your family at Christmas?
Postcode check: Find out the rules where you live
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the changes for England at a Downing Street briefing after scientists said a new coronavirus variant is spreading more rapidly.
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Tier-four restrictions - similar to England's second national lockdown - will apply in all areas in the South East currently in tier three, covering Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (excluding Waverley), Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings.
It will also apply in London (all 32 boroughs and the City of London) and the East of England (Bedford, Central Bedford, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring).
In Scotland, Covid restrictions will only be relaxed on Christmas Day, with mainland Scotland being placed under the tightest restrictions from Boxing Day.
In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford announced that the country will be placed under lockdown from midnight.
There are no plans at the moment to change the current Christmas restrictions in Northern Ireland, BBC News NI understands. The country is set to enter a six-week lockdown from 26 December.
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For tier-four areas in England, a stay-at-home order has been issued, with exemptions for those who have to travel to work or for education.
Social mixing will be cut to meeting one person in an open public space.
All non-essential retail will have to close, along with hairdressers, nail bars, indoor gyms and leisure facilities.
People will be advised not to travel into a tier four area.
The restrictions will last for two weeks, with the first review due on 30 December.
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NHS pressure 'at a really dangerous point'
UK's R number back above one
Mr Johnson told the Downing Street briefing: "I know how disappointing this will be, but we have said throughout this pandemic that we must and we will be guided by the science.
"When the science changes, we must change our response. When the virus changes its methods of attack we must change our method of defence and as your prime minister I sincerely believe there is no alternative open to me."
Presentational grey line
Analysis box by Nick Triggle, health correspondent
The steep increase in the proportion of coronavirus cases linked to this new variant is strong evidence that it is driving transmission.
In London, 28% of cases were as a result of this new mutation in mid-November, but that has now increased to more than 60%.
It may explain why, during the second lockdown, cases started to increase in London, while in Kent the tier three measures appear to have had little impact in recent weeks.
As England's chief medical adviser Prof Chris Whitty says, this is a bad moment, but there is also some hope.
Mutations happen all the time - there have been thousands of variations to this coronavirus since it emerged - and there is nothing to suggest this causes more serious illness or will hamper the effectiveness of the vaccine.
The prime minister announced 350,000 people had been given the first dose of the vaccine in the first two weeks of the programme.
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In the coming weeks, the number of GP-led vaccination clinics should increase six-fold, while approval of a second vaccine made by Oxford University could pave the way for mass vaccination centres to be set up in sports stadiums and conference centres.
That could see two million people a week being vaccinated. Within a matter of months all the over-65s could have been offered a jab. This could then start to feel very different.
But for now, the slog of the pandemic continues - and for many it just got harder.
Presentational grey line
Mr Johnson said analysis from New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) suggests the new variant could increase the R number - or reproductive rate of the virus - by 0.4 or more.
Although there is "considerable uncertainty", it may be up to 70% more transmissible than the old variant, he said.
England's Chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, said that while the new variant of coronavirus will make things much worse, if the vaccine works against it there was room for optimism.
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He has previously said there is no current evidence to suggest the new variant causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments.
Speaking at the Downing Street briefing, he added: "I think this is a situation which is going to make things a lot worse, but there are some really optimistic things if you look once we get the vaccine out, assuming the vaccine works against this, which at the moment is the working assumption."
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Mr Johnson revealed that 350,000 people in the UK have so far received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
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