England faces the bleakest Christmas in living memory with experts warning the whole country will be under severe Tier 3 restrictions by then.
That could leave millions of people cut off from loved ones on Christmas Day.
The gloomy warning comes after another 367 Brits died from Covid-19 - the deadliest day of the pandemic since May.
Infections, hospital admissions and deaths are expected to continue soaring throughout the winter, which could plunge the whole country into the toughest lockdown measures.
The Sun reports that the Government's chief scientist Sir Patrick Vallance has overseen modelling which forecasts that there will be over 25,000 people in hospital with the virus by the end of November.
That figure is higher than at the peak of the spring. Currently, there are just over 9,000 people battling coronavirius in hospital.
And the Government’s Sage advisory body has warned that, over the festive season, ever region's infection rate will exceed that of areas - like Liverpool and Manchester - that are already in Tier 3.
It means PM Boris Johnson may be forced to scrap his reported desire to give the nation a breather from restrictions on Christmas Day.
And tough Tier Three Rules mean anybody who spends Christmas Day with family or friends outside of their household or support bubble would risk receiving an unwanted gift - a minimum £200 fine.
An unnamed Government source told The Sun that the picture over Christmas is "utterly bleak.”.
On average, there have been at least 200 deaths each day for the past week. Officials previously warned the UK wouldn't hit that grim milestone until mid-November.
There were 44 on Tuesday alone in the North East and Yorkshire, second only to the North West.
Despite that, infections continue to drop across the region, as it battles to avoid joining around eight million others in Tier Three.
However, the Government won't rule out adding a fourth tier to the restrictions, if the current measures don't to enough to reduce cases.
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