Norfolk wakes up today under the harshest coronavirus restrictions as a further six million people enter new tier changes in England.

The government moved the county into Tier 4 on December 23, alongside Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Sussex and Oxfordshire, in response to a more transmissible variant of Covid-19 being discovered in the UK.

This means 24 million people across the UK, which represents 43pc of the population, will follow the toughest restrictions, which includes a warning to stay at home.

Under the new Tier 4 measures no household mixing is allowed, though one person can meet one other person outside in a public space, while all non-essential shops and businesses must close, including personal care and indoor entertainment.

Nobody can enter or leave Tier 4 areas and a person must not stay overnight away from home.

The Government said a further 570 died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus as of Christmas Day, while there were a further 32,725 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.

Elsewhere in England, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset including the North Somerset council area, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest and Northamptonshire plus Cheshire and Warrington are moving up to Tier 3.

2020 The Year Of The Pandemic

Cornwall and Herefordshire, which had been in Tier 1, the lowest coronavirus tier have been moved to Tier 2.

Restrictions are also being brought in across the rest of the UK, including a six-week lockdown in Northern Ireland beginning on Boxing Day closing all non-essential services and hospitality outlets, which are limited to takeaway services.

Wales eased its measures for Christmas Day only and have told people to stay at home, permitting travel for "essential reasons".

Mainland Scotland will enter Level 4 restrictions from Saturday, with the Scottish Government intending the increased measures to last for three weeks.
Non-essential shops, pubs and restaurants will have to shut except for takeaways, while only essential travel will be allowed.