The UK's coronavirus death toll in hospitals has soared by another 467 as a second mutant strain of the virus spreads into the country.
This is another increase on last Thursday, when 434 deaths were recorded, and higher then the daily total of 434 on the previous Friday - December 10 , which saw 386 - and higher than the 381 fatalities announced on Friday, December 3.
The highest toll on a Thursday was 891 on April 9 when the UK was in the initial peak of the pandemic, while the lowest was five on August 20.
England saw 350 deaths in the latest reporting, Wales saw 63, Scotland saw 43, and Northern Ireland saw 11. England recorded 350 new deaths in the latest 24-hour period bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in