Christmas rules tightened for millions in UK
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 fresh tier four will be introduced in areas including London, Kent, Essex and Bedfordshire.
Those in tier four cannot mix indoors with anyone not from their household.
Elsewhere in England, Scotland and Wales, relaxed indoor mixing rules are cut from five days to Christmas Day.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the changes for England at a Downing Street briefing after scientists said a fresh coronavirus variant was spreading quicker.
Tier-four restrictions - similar to England's second national lockdown - will apply in every areas in the South East currently in tier three, covering Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (excluding Waverley), Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings.
It will apply in London (all 32 boroughs and the town 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 is only going to be relaxed on Christmas Day, with mainland Scotland being located under the tightest restrictions from Boxing Day.
Outlining the changes, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she wished she had acted quicker to curb the virus in February, adding: "Standing here saying this actually makes me want to cry."
A ban on happen to be all of those other UK will also apply over the festive period.
In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford announced that the country will be placed under lockdown from midnight.
In Northern Ireland, no changes have been designed to Christmas restrictions, with three households allowed to meet from 23 to 27 December. The united states is defined to enter a six-week lockdown from 26 December.
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 individual in an general public space.
All non-essential retail will have to close, along with hairdressers, nail bars, indoor gyms and leisure facilities.
People elsewhere will be advised not to travel right into a tier-four area.
The restrictions will last for 14 days, with the first review due on 30 December.
Mr Johnson told the Downing Street briefing he knew how "disappointing" the news will be, but said he believed there is no alternative available to him.
When the virus changes its methods of attack, he said, "we must change our method of defence".
Mr Johnson acknowledged it had been "unquestionably a hard moment" in the coronavirus crisis but insisted that things will be "radically different" by Easter as a result of vaccine.
He didn't confirm whether police will be told to stop persons travelling home over the festive period or knock on doors on Christmas Day.
Mr Johnson said analysis suggested the new variant could boost the the R number by 0.4 or even more.
Although there is "considerable uncertainty", it might be up to 70% more transmissible compared to the old variant, he said.
