Gyms and hairdressers are planned to close in Tier 4 as of midnight tonight - just days before Christmas.
In Tier 4 from 12.01am on Sunday non essential retail will be forced to shut.
Indoor leisure including gyms will also close, as will indoor entertainment, hairdressers and nail bars.
Tighter social contact restrictions will be put in place in terms of household mixing.
Just one person from one household will be allowed to meet one other person from another household in an open public space for example a park - not a garden.
This can only be two people, although there is an exemption for people with young children - as in the November lockdown.
These rules are in place for two weeks at which point they will be reviewed.
The review is due on December 30 as part of a wider review of all restrictions.
The announcement comes after England's chief medical officer confirmed that a new mutant Covid-19 strain spreads more rapidly - and urgent work is underway to see if it is more deadly.
Prof Chris Whitty said the UK has informed the World Health Organisation about the new variant.
At the moment he said there is "no current evidence" to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or affects vaccines, but work is being carried out to confirm this.
