Fifteen million people will today be plunged into stricter Covid-19 restrictions, with Christmas shopping banned and Brits told to stay at home by law.
Christmas bubbles have been scrapped for a third of the population of England who are entering a new 'Tier 4' from midnight.
And Christmas bubbles have been shortened from five days to just one - Christmas Day - for the rest of the country. It comes as a new, more easily transmitted strain of Covid-19 tore through London and the South East - responsible for 60% of new cases in the capital.
When non-essential shops close this evening in the new Tier 4 areas, they will stay closed for two weeks. And from Sunday, people in Tier 4 will be ordered to stay at home unless performing outdoor