Oadby and Wigston MP Neil O'Brien tweeted the local lockdown had been lifted in the area and it was now subject to the same restrictions as the rest of Leicestershire.
Hurray!!! After much pushing and shoving I have just had it confirmed by the Department of Health that Oadby and Wigston is moving OUT of lockdown and will be the same as the rest of Leicestershire.
The Department of Health and Social Care said restaurants, cafes, bars and hairdressers in Leicester would be able to reopen from Monday but leisure centres, gyms and pools would remain closed.
Cinemas and museums are also allowed to open and religious ceremonies can take place, a spokesman added.
Leicester West MP Liz Kendall tweeted she has spoken to Mr Hancock and called it "great news".
"This has been an unbelievably difficult period for our city but people's hard work and sacrifices have paid off," the Labour MP said.
But she described the government's handling of the lockdown as "totally shambolic" and "lessons must be learnt for the future to prevent others going through the same".
Just been on call with Minister about #LeicesterLockdown. The great news is our pubs, cafes, bars & restaurants can re-open and people can go on holiday with their own household. But leisure centres, gyms & pools still closed, and no meeting up with other households indoors. 1/2
Earlier, Leicester's mayor Sir Peter Soulsby had shared his frustration with the government.
"We haven't got a clue what's going on, we really haven't. We've been messed about all day.
"They were going to make the announcement much earlier in the day, then they were going to make it around 4pm, then 5pm, and now we understand they're not even going to discuss it until 6pm. What a way to run a country."
Oadby and Wigston MP Neil O'Brien tweeted the local lockdown had been lifted in the area and it was now subject to the same restrictions as the rest of Leicestershire.
Hurray!!! After much pushing and shoving I have just had it confirmed by the Department of Health that Oadby and Wigston is moving OUT of lockdown and will be the same as the rest of Leicestershire.
The Department of Health and Social Care said restaurants, cafes, bars and hairdressers in Leicester would be able to reopen from Monday but leisure centres, gyms and pools would remain closed.
Cinemas and museums are also allowed to open and religious ceremonies can take place, a spokesman added.
Leicester West MP Liz Kendall tweeted she has spoken to Mr Hancock and called it "great news".
"This has been an unbelievably difficult period for our city but people's hard work and sacrifices have paid off," the Labour MP said.
But she described the government's handling of the lockdown as "totally shambolic" and "lessons must be learnt for the future to prevent others going through the same".
Just been on call with Minister about #LeicesterLockdown. The great news is our pubs, cafes, bars & restaurants can re-open and people can go on holiday with their own household. But leisure centres, gyms & pools still closed, and no meeting up with other households indoors. 1/2
Earlier, Leicester's mayor Sir Peter Soulsby had shared his frustration with the government.
"We haven't got a clue what's going on, we really haven't. We've been messed about all day.
"They were going to make the announcement much earlier in the day, then they were going to make it around 4pm, then 5pm, and now we understand they're not even going to discuss it until 6pm. What a way to run a country."
Oadby and Wigston MP Neil O'Brien tweeted the local lockdown had been lifted in the area and it was now subject to the same restrictions as the rest of Leicestershire.
The Department of Health and Social Care said restaurants, cafes, bars and hairdressers in Leicester would be able to reopen from Monday but leisure centres, gyms and pools would remain closed.
Cinemas and museums are also allowed to open and religious ceremonies can take place, a spokesman added.
Leicester West MP Liz Kendall tweeted she has spoken to Mr Hancock and called it "great news".
"This has been an unbelievably difficult period for our city but people's hard work and sacrifices have paid off," the Labour MP said.
But she described the government's handling of the lockdown as "totally shambolic" and "lessons must be learnt for the future to prevent others going through the same".
Earlier, Leicester's mayor Sir Peter Soulsby had shared his frustration with the government.
"We haven't got a clue what's going on, we really haven't. We've been messed about all day.
"They were going to make the announcement much earlier in the day, then they were going to make it around 4pm, then 5pm, and now we understand they're not even going to discuss it until 6pm. What a way to run a country."
Climate change driven by industrial society is having an increasing impact on the UK’s weather, the Met Office says.
Its annual UK report confirms that 2019 was the 12th warmest year in a series from 1884.
Although it does not make the top 10, the report says 2019 was remarkable for high temperature records in the UK.
There was also a severe swing in weather from the soaking winter to the sunny spring.
The temperature extremes were:
A new UK maximum record (38.7° C) on 25 July, in Cambridge
A new winter maximum record (21.2° C) on 26 February, in Kew Gardens, London - the first time 20C has been reached in the UK in winter
A new December maximum record (18.7° C) on 28 December, in Achfary, Sutherland
A new February minimum record (13.9° C) on 23 February, in Achnagart, Highland
No national low temperature records were set in the State of the UK Climate report, published by the Royal Meteorological Society.
It shows that UK temperatures in 2019 were 1.1° C above the 1961-1990 long-term average.
Mike Kendon, lead author of the report, said: “Our report shows climate change is exerting an increasing impact on the UK.
“This year was warmer than any other year in the UK between 1884 and 1990, and to find a year in the coldest 10 we have to go back to 1963.”
The Central England Temperature series is the longest instrumental record of temperature in the world, stretching back to 1659.
Dr Mark McCarthy, from the Met Office, added it was a particularly wet year across parts of central and northern England.
He said Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Cheshire received between a quarter to one third more rainfall than normal. For northern England this was the ninth wettest year in a series from 1862.
He said: "It’s worth noting that since 2009 the UK has now had its wettest February, April, June, November and December on record – five out of 12 months."
Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, identified a number of concerning trends.
She said: "As well as extreme hot temperatures, the stand-out weather events in 2019 were the many different types of floods, causing millions of pounds worth of damage and causing misery to many people.
“The picture that emerges is of the multiple flooding threats that are facing the UK, many of which are exacerbated by climate change."
She cited as examples summer flash floods caused by extreme downpours, extensive autumn and winter river floods caused by persistent heavy rain and storms, and a backdrop of continued sea-level rises heightening the risk of coastal floods.
Professor Ilan Kelman, from University College London, said heat would become an increasing problem.
He said: "These UK records show that if we do nothing about stopping climate change we are on track for summer heat and humidity which would be highly dangerous for us to be outdoors - and to be indoors without continual cooling.”
Gareth Redmond King from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said: “These are records we shouldn’t be breaking. Tropical temperatures may be nice on occasion, but here in the UK they are a stark reminder that we are in a climate crisis.
“The whole world has to act ahead of next year’s UN climate conference; and as hosts we must urgently raise our ambition if the UK is to show global leadership.
“Right now, that means investing in a green recovery in the coming budget and spending review, for the sake of both people and planet.”
Oadby and Wigston MP Neil O'Brien tweeted the local lockdown had been lifted in the area and it was now subject to the same restrictions as the rest of Leicestershire.
Hurray!!! After much pushing and shoving I have just had it confirmed by the Department of Health that Oadby and Wigston is moving OUT of lockdown and will be the same as the rest of Leicestershire.
The Department of Health and Social Care said restaurants, cafes, bars and hairdressers in Leicester would be able to reopen from Monday but leisure centres, gyms and pools would remain closed.
Cinemas and museums are also allowed to open and religious ceremonies can take place, a spokesman added.
Leicester West MP Liz Kendall tweeted she has spoken to Mr Hancock and called it "great news".
"This has been an unbelievably difficult period for our city but people's hard work and sacrifices have paid off," the Labour MP said.
But she described the government's handling of the lockdown as "totally shambolic" and "lessons must be learnt for the future to prevent others going through the same".
Just been on call with Minister about #LeicesterLockdown. The great news is our pubs, cafes, bars & restaurants can re-open and people can go on holiday with their own household. But leisure centres, gyms & pools still closed, and no meeting up with other households indoors. 1/2
Earlier, Leicester's mayor Sir Peter Soulsby had shared his frustration with the government.
"We haven't got a clue what's going on, we really haven't. We've been messed about all day.
"They were going to make the announcement much earlier in the day, then they were going to make it around 4pm, then 5pm, and now we understand they're not even going to discuss it until 6pm. What a way to run a country."
Separate households will not be allowed to meet indoors in Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire from midnight, the government has announced.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said an "increasing rate of transmission" had been identified in those areas.
He said the rise was "largely due" to people not following social distancing.
MPs have called for the government to provide clarity over what the new restrictions will mean.
In Leicester, where a local lockdown has been in place since last month, the same restrictions will also apply, Mr Hancock added.
But pubs, restaurants and some other facilities will be allowed to reopen from Monday, as some of the stricter measures are lifted.
Millions of people in Greater Manchester, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale, Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees will be affected by the tightening of restrictions.
It is unclear whether the rules will also apply to pubs, restaurants, private gardens and places of worship.
It comes nearly four weeks after restrictions were eased and people were allowed to meet indoors.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said there was a "need for urgent clarity and explanation from the government" regarding the restrictions.
He tweeted that announcing measures "affecting potentially millions of people late at night on Twitter is a new low for the government's communications during this crisis".
The government always warned it would slam on the brakes if it had to.
Now it has - on an unprecedented scale, with two-and-a-half hours notice.
Liberties recently returned, almost instantly snatched away.
And snatched with a rebuke from the health secretary for England - Matt Hancock - who repeatedly said this was necessary because some in the areas affected had failed to stick to social distancing rules.
I'm told the change comes without a time limit, but will be reviewed every week.
And don't be surprised if the government, from the prime minister down, make the case that this could happen elsewhere too if people are cavalier about the rules.
And yet, in Leicester, the local, more severe restrictions imposed there are to be eased.
The baby steps back towards normality are going to be hesitant and faltering; messy in their detail and messy in their geography.
The virus has robbed us of many things.
It continues to rob us of any certainty.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester - a city with a population of about 2.8m - said there had been a "marked change in the picture" with regard to the spread of Covid-19 in the area.
"We have gone from a falling rate of cases in nearly all of our boroughs last week to a rising rate in nine out of 10 affecting communities across a much wider geography," he said. "In Rochdale, the one borough where cases have fallen, they are still too high."
He said all residents "young and old alike" should "protect each other" by observing the requirements, which will be reviewed weekly.
This means "the more we stick to them, the quicker they will be removed", he said.
"This is a place which prides itself on looking out for each other. We now need to be true to that by not acting selfishly and keeping the health of others in mind at all times."
Jonathan Reynolds, shadow secretary for work and pensions and an MP in the Greater Manchester area, said the figures were showing an increase in infections including in Tameside where positive tests per 100,000 population has gone from 4.9 to 16.3.
BBC News correspondent Judith Moritz said the government's announcement was "a shock" but the data had been "pointing this way for some time".
She said residents "will find it hard to deal with" especially those with a significant Muslim population looking to celebrate Eid on Friday.
The restrictions are not as strict as those that were imposed in Leicester, she said, but Thursday's announcement covers a much greater area.
Leicester introduced a strict local lockdown at the beginning of July because the city's seven-day infection rate had risen to 135 cases per 100,000 people. It has since fallen and the lockdown was lifted for some suburbs of the city.
'Impact on Eid'
Labour's MP for Oldham, in Greater Manchester, and shadow transport minister Jim McMahon called for more clarity over what the government was doing to support those in areas affected by new lockdown restrictions.
"On the face of it, for Oldham borough residents this is the same restriction announced already this week, replicated in further areas," he tweeted.
Labour MP for Manchester Central Lucy Powell tweeted: "Trying to get further information about this but it seems two households can no longer meet indoors in GM.
"Particular concerns in certain boroughs but restrictions applying across GM."
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said the decision to ban households in Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and West Yorkshire from meeting indoors was the "right" one.
She said the UK government was "right to act quickly", adding: "This is a sharp reminder that the threat of this virus is still very real."
Miqdaad Versi, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said the restrictions were likely to have a "large impact" on Muslim families celebrating Eid on Friday.
"Unclear why such short notice provided but important that this message is cascaded as quickly as possible given it goes live within a few hours," he tweeted.
On Thursday, a further 38 people in the UK died, bringing the total number of Covid-19 associated deaths to 45,999.
And 846 cases were reported - the highest number of cases in a day for a month.
