Liverpool has been put into Tier 3 this afternoon as Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced a raft of changes to the tier system.
Mr Hancock said that the government 'must act' as cases reached a record high of 53,000 yesterday as the new mutant virus spreads across the country.
In the House of Commons today he said: "So whilst we have the good news of the vaccine today, we also have to take some difficult decisions.
" Sharply rising cases and the hospitalisations that follow demonstrate the need to act where the virus is spreading."
The Health Secretary told MPs that the majority of new cases recorded yesterday "are believed to be the new variant".
Mr Hancock said: "Even in most areas not moving into Tier 4, cases are rising too, and it is therefore necessary to apply Tier 3 measures more broadly too - including in Liverpool and North Yorkshire.
"The rest of Yorkshire remains in Tier 3. These changes will take effect from 00:01 tomorrow morning.
"The new variant means that three quarters of the population are now going to be in Tier 4 and almost all of the country in Tiers 3 and 4.
"And I know that Tier 3 and 4 measures place a significant burden on people, and especially on businesses affected, but I am afraid it is absolutely necessary because of the number of cases that we've seen.
"But where we are still able to give places greater freedoms, we will continue to do so."
A total of 12 million people will be in Tier 3 from December 31, or 22% of the population of England.
No area will be in Tier 2, while some 2,000 people - the population of the Isles of Scilly - will be in Tier 1.
Use your postcode below to find vaccine locations near where you live
What areas have been put into Tier 3?
The following local authority areas will move to Tier 3 from Thursday, according to the Department of Health.
- Rutland
- Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin
- Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest)
- Herefordshire
- Liverpool City Region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens)
- York and North Yorkshire (Scarborough, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Selby, Craven, Ryedale, Harrogate, City of York)
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Devon, Plymouth, Torbay (East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, West Devon, Plymouth, Torbay)
- Cornwall
- Dorset
- Wiltshire
