France and Germany have both announced new national lockdowns to deal with soaring coronavirus infections.
French President Emmanuel Macron tonight ordered businesses to close on Friday and banned movement between regions - but said unlike the first national lockdown, schools should stay open.
He warned that if the country tried to achieve herd immunity, 400,000 people would die - and once more ordered people to stay at home.
In a televised statement, he warned that the second wave had "overwhelmed" France, and said it would be "harder, more deadly than the first", with new cases rising above 36,000 a day and 520 deaths recorded yesterday.
Macron said that the lockdown would remain in place until December 1, but a review would happen after two weeks to decide if non-essential shops can reopen.
It comes hot on the heels of Germany's decision to impose an emergency month-long lockdown that includes the closure of restaurants, gyms and theatres.
"We need to take action now," Chancellor Angela Merkel said, adding the situation was "very serious".
Cases rose by 14,964 to 464,239 in the last 24 hours, Germany's infectious diseases agency, the Robert Koch Institute, said today.
Germany's lockdown will come into effect on November 2, when private gatherings will be limited to 10 people from a maximum of two households.
Under the new measures, schools and daycare centres will remain open, as will shops, so long as they stick to social distancing and hygiene rules.
Deaths jumped by 85 to 10,183, fuelling fears about the health system after Merkel warned it could hit breaking point if infections continue to spiral.
"Our health system can still cope with this challenge today, but at this speed of infections it will reach the limits of its capacity within weeks," Ms Merkel said.
Across the border in France, Macron said: "The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated.
"Like all our neighbours, we are submerged by the sudden acceleration of the virus.
"We are all in the same position: overrun by a second wave which we know will be harder, more deadly than the first."
People in France will be required to stay in their homes except to buy essential goods, seek medical attention, or exercise for up to one hour a day.
They will be permitted to go to work if their employer deems it impossible for them to do the job from home.
German finance minister Olaf Scholz posted on Twitter: "November will be a month of truth.
"The increasing numbers of infections are forcing us to take tough countermeasures in order to break the second wave."
The World Health Organisation says the European region - which includes Russia, Turkey, Israel and Central Asia, according to its definition - accounted for almost half of the 2.8 million new coronavirus cases reported globally last week.
The UN health agency said virus-related deaths were also on the rise in Europe, with about a 35% spike since the previous week, as well as hospitalizations due to Covid-19.
"We are deep in the second wave," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels.
"I think that this year's Christmas will be a different Christmas."
