Full lockdowns could return across Europe as a 'fourth wave' sweeps through a host of countries, say reports.
Cases of new Covid infections have surged in various countries, as the UK recorded more than 45,000 cases in a single day.
Germany and Austria are both also seeing a surge in numbers of coronavirus cases each day.
Most recent data showed there were more than 65,000 new cases in one day in Germany, and in Austria there was a new record of 15,145.
Across Europe last week more than half of the seven-day averages of infections globally were accounted for, and about half of the latest deaths.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday announced curbs on public life for those not yet vaccinated in areas where hospitals are filling dangerously fast with Covid patients.
Austria has also imposed a lockdown for the unvaccinated.
Earlier, several hundred people protested outside the Austrian Embassy in Paris against Austria's restrictions, fearing France might be next to reimpose curbs aimed at reducing the circulation of the virus.
President Emmanuel Macron said France did not need to follow those European countries imposing lockdowns on unvaccinated people, because of the success of its health pass in curbing the virus' spread.
"Those countries locking down the non-vaccinated are those which have not put in place the (health) pass. Therefore this step is not necessary in France," Macron told La Voix du Nord.
The Telegraph reports that the European Medicines Agency blamed people not getting jabbed and the delta variant for putting pressure on intensive care units.
Dr Marco Cavaleri, of the agency, said: “We are in the midst of what we call the fourth wave.”
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier called for a push for more booster shots to appeal to people who are sceptical about vaccinations.
The Robert Koch Institute reported that confirmed cases had increased by 52,826 as the pandemic's fourth wave tightened its grip on Europe.
"It is not too late to opt for a first vaccine shot," she told a congress of German city mayors.
"Everyone who gets vaccinated protects himself and others. And if enough people get vaccinated that is the way out of the pandemic."
She added that there needs to be a "national effort" to get mass distribution of vaccine booster shots under way, since the protection offered by vaccines began to dwindle six months after the second dose.
It comes as the UK recorded another 46,807 Covid cases, the highest figure for nearly a month.
The pandemic also claimed the lives of 199 people in the last 24 hours, according to official government data.
Boris Johnson said there was a new threat as cases are spiking in European countries including Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Describing it as a “blizzard”, he said: “We don’t yet know the extent to which this new wave will sweep up on our shores but history shows that we cannot afford to be complacent.”
But despite the surge he has not actually triggered England’s ‘Plan B’ - which stops well short of a lockdown.
