Before that, the prime minister is hosting a cabinet meeting to discuss what action to take to deal with the spread of a new variant of Covid.

Chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty said government advisers "consider the new strain can spread more quickly". He will join the prime minister and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser, at the press conference.

Following concern about the rapid spread of a new variant, Prof Whitty said: "We have alerted the World Health Organisation and are continuing to analyse the available data to improve our understanding. There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments although urgent work is underway to confirm this. Given this latest development it is now more vital than ever that the public continue to take action in their area to reduce transmission."

I'd go so far as to say the majority - I remember the seaside and countryside invasions of the summer - give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile .....

Boris Johnson to hold press conference amid surge in cases

Christmas is O.F.F


'If you have packed a bag, unpack it' says government.

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 new 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.

It's a bit nuts to make the change from 12 midnight tonight though.

I'm sure that many Southerners will make the most of the change by totally ignoring it on their "last night of freedom" .....

You are very fortunate living where you do, with just 25 fatalities in a population of about 85,000 and no lockdown there are none of problems of not seeing relatives for months, so I understand. Not so good if you wish to get off the island or have visitors, other than those living there.