New coronavirus restrictions have come into force in England with more than half the population facing further curbs on their social lives.
Vast swathes of the north, London and parts of the south east are now subject to tougher COVID-19 rules.
At 6pm on Friday a ban on visiting Wales from areas of high infection came into force and Northern Ireland entered a stricter lockdown than the rest of the UK.
The stronger measures have placed more than 28 million people in England into the top two tiers of restrictions.
Image:Measures under Tiers 1, 2 and 3 of England's lockdown system
They include:
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Tier 3 rules across Lancashire meaning almost no socialising outside a household bubble is allowed and pubs, bars and restaurants are closed except for takeaway services.
Areas newly affected by the new Tier 3 rules are Burnley, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre.
Tier 2 rules, meaning households cannot mix indoors or in pubs, cafes and restaurants, came into force across parts of northern and south east England.
Areas newly affected by Tier 2 rules are London, Essex, Elmbridge, Barrow-in-Furness, North East Derbyshire, Erewash, Chesterfield and York.
The rule changes at midnight on Friday came just hours after the prime minister pitted himself against the city of Manchester by promising to impose the highest level of restriction - with or without Mayor Andy Burnham's blessing.
Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, Boris Johnson described the coronavirus outbreak in the city as "grave".
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"On recent trends, in just over two weeks there will be more COVID patients in intensive care than at the peak of the first wave so I urge the mayor to reconsider and engage constructively.
"I cannot stress enough: time is of the essence. Each day that passes before action is taken means more people will go to hospital, more people will end up in intensive care and tragically more people will die.
"Of course, if agreement cannot be reached, I will need to intervene in order to protect Manchester's hospitals and save the lives of Manchester's residents," he said.
But on Friday the government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance told the same briefing "baseline" Tier 3 measures "almost certainly aren't enough" to get infection numbers down.
And when asked by Sky News deputy political editor Sam Coates if people would die as a result of the row between Downing Street and Manchester leaders, he said: "These are horrendously difficult decisions and there are harms on both sides, as it's been pointed out previously.
"From a purely epidemiological point of view, it is important to go quite fast on this, it's important to make sure that you go hard enough to get the R below 1 and the sooner you do that, the sooner you get this under control."
In Liverpool, Tier 3 restrictions have been in place since Monday, but after it was announced yesterday that Lancashire would join them in the "very high" risk level, there were accusations of inconsistencies between the two regions.
The decision to close gyms in Liverpool but not Lancashire was described as an "inconsistent mess" by the city's mayor, Joe Anderson.
In a joint statement, the regional mayor, Steve Rotherham, and six other local leaders added: "We simply will not accept our region being treated differently to other Tier 3 areas, without robust scientific evidence.
"These inconsistencies in restrictions between areas within the same tier risk undermining the new system from the beginning."
According to the latest data from the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the UK R number - the rate at which coronavirus is spreading - has increased from 1.2 to 1.5 to 1.3 to 1.5 on average.
This means that for every 10 people who have the virus, they will go on to infect between 13 and 15 others.
COVID-19 hospital admissions jumped by another 844 on Friday, with a total of 5,311 patients currently being treated for the virus in England.
There were a further 15,650 new cases confirmed across the country - down from 18,980 on Thursday and 19,724 on Wednesday.
And there was also a big jump in the total believed to be infected in England - rising from an estimated 224,400 to 336,500 in a week.
New coronavirus restrictions have come into force in England with roughly half the population facing further curbs on their social lives.
Vast swathes of the north, London and parts of the south east are now subject to tougher COVID-19 rules.
At 6pm on Friday a ban on visiting Wales from areas of high infection came into force and Northern Ireland entered a stricter lockdown than the rest of the UK.
The stronger measures in England now in force include:
Tier 3 rules across Lancashire meaning almost no socialising outside a household bubble is allowed and pubs, bars and restaurants are closed except for takeaway services.
Areas newly affected by the new Tier 3 rules are Burnley, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre.
Tier 2 rules, meaning households cannot mix indoors or in pubs, cafes and restaurants, came into force across parts of northern and south east England.
Areas newly affected by Tier 2 rules are London, Essex, Elmbridge, Barrow-in-Furness, North East Derbyshire, Erewash, Chesterfield and York.
The rule changes came just hours after the prime minister pitted himself against the city of Manchester by promising to impose the highest level of restriction - with or without Mayor Andy Burnham's blessing.
Advertisement
Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, Boris Johnson described the coronavirus outbreak in the city as "grave".
"On recent trends, in just over two weeks there will be more COVID patients in intensive care than at the peak of the first wave so I urge the mayor to reconsider and engage constructively.
More from Covid-19
"I cannot stress enough: time is of the essence. Each day that passes before action is taken means more people will go to hospital, more people will end up in intensive care and tragically more people will die.
"Of course, if agreement cannot be reached, I will need to intervene in order to protect Manchester's hospitals and save the lives of Manchester's residents," he said.
But on Friday the government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance told the same briefing "baseline" Tier 3 measures "almost certainly aren't enough" to get infection numbers down.
And when asked by Sky News deputy political editor Sam Coates if people would die as a result of the row between Downing Street and Manchester leaders, he said: "These are horrendously difficult decisions and there are harms on both sides, as it's been pointed out previously.
"From a purely epidemiological point of view, it is important to go quite fast on this, it's important to make sure that you go hard enough to get the R below 1 and the sooner you do that, the sooner you get this under control."
In Liverpool, Tier 3 restrictions have been in place since Monday, but after it was announced yesterday that Lancashire would join them in the "very high" risk level, there were accusations of inconsistencies between the two regions.
The decision to close gyms in Liverpool but not Lancashire was described as an "inconsistent mess" by the city's mayor, Joe Anderson.
In a joint statement, the regional mayor, Steve Rotherham, and six other local leaders added: "We simply will not accept our region being treated differently to other Tier 3 areas, without robust scientific evidence.
"These inconsistencies in restrictions between areas within the same tier risk undermining the new system from the beginning."
According to the latest data from the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the UK R number - the rate at which coronavirus is spreading - has increased from 1.2 to 1.5 to 1.3 to 1.5 on average.
This means that for every 10 people who have the virus, they will go on to infect between 13 and 15 others.
COVID-19 hospital admissions jumped by another 844 on Friday, with a total of 5,311 patients currently being treated for the virus in England.
There were a further 15,650 new cases confirmed across the country - down from 18,980 on Thursday and 19,724 on Wednesday.
And there was also a big jump in the total believed to be infected in England - rising from an estimated 224,400 to 336,500 in a week.
The Prime Minister has warned it is now time to prepare for a no-trade deal Brexit unless the EU fundamentally changes its stance, bluntly telling Brussels there is little point in holding further talks. Mr Johnson said: "I have concluded that we should get ready for January 1 with arrangements that are more like Australia's based on simple principles of global free trade. With high hearts and with complete confidence, we will prepare to embrace the alternative and we will prosper mightily as an independent free trading nation, controlling and setting our own laws."
Fisheries has proven to be a major stumbling block since talks opened between the two sides nearly four years ago, with former Prime Minister Theresa May and now Mr Johnson both under pressure to strike a deal that would satisfy the fishing community after Brexit.
Britain wants fishing quotas to be renegotiated in an annual basis, but the EU has argued this would make it impossible for the industry to make investment decisions.
Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, accused both Mrs May and Mr Johnson of breaking promises to the fishing industry by not including it in the Withdrawal Agreement, and leaving it to be dealt as part of the Political Declaration.
He also accused both of not having the "political will to hold out for it in the Withdrawal Agreement", warning the political consequences of betraying the fishing industry will be "pretty severe".
Mr Carmichael told Express.co.uk: "The fishing industry has been promised a lot from Brexit and the people who were the most enthusiastic and campaigning for Brexit, are now the ones who are responsible for delivering on the promises they made.
"If first Theresa May and then Boris Johnson had included fishing in the Withdrawal Agreement, rather than leaving it to be dealt with as part of the Political Declaration, then we wouldn't find ourselves in this difficult situation. That was what was promised in the first place.
"Given the high importance of fishing to my community and given the importance the industry attaches to the promises they were made, I hope they have the political will to hold out, because the political consequences for any party that betrays the fishing industry now will be pretty severe."
When asked if an unnecessary mess had been created by not including fisheries in the Withdrawal Agreement and only the Political Declaration from the start, Mr Carmichael replied: "Absolutely!
Mr Carmichael also accused the Tory Government of a "straightforward breach of a promise that was made to the industry" by leaving fisheries out of the Withdrawal Agreement.
He warned they will have to deliver on their promises to the industry, or face a "whirlwind".
The Lib Dem MP for Orkney and Shetland continued: "The decision to leave the fisheries policy out of the Withdrawal Agreement was a straightforward breach of a promise that was made to the industry.
"Having broken their promises, they are now trying to scramble to find a way to make good on it.
"The jury is out on them – the importance to fishing in these negotiations is such that they are never going to bury this as an issue.
"They either have to deliver on their promises or backtrack and if they do the latter, they will face a whirlwind."
