England may have to go into a third national lockdown after the Christmas relaxation as coronavirus rates are continuing to rise.
Wales has already announced it will bring in a national lockdown immediately after Christmas - and will stay in the highest level of restrictions for at least three weeks.
Scotland today said it is also considering a national lockdown.
Downing Street this afternoon declined to rule out the possibility of a third national lockdown in England.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’ve been clear of the rationale behind the tiered regional approach and that’s what we’ve set out for the time.
“That is designed to reduce the rate of transmission and reduce the R rate in areas of high prevalence.
“As we’ve said throughout we will obviously keep the latest data and the latest trends under review.”
The statement comes on teh day new tier levels were announced for England - with swathes of the south and east being moved into Tier Three.
38million people will be under the highest level of tier restrictions from Saturday.
