The UK has recorded the highest number of new coronavirus cases in a single day since February this year as fears grow about a third wave.
The four nations of the UK recorded a total of 7,540 Covid cases in the last 24 hours, up 74% on the figure a week ago.
These UK figures come as Wales recorded 223 new cases on Wednesday which is the most in a single 24-hour period since mid-March, and 201 more than on Tuesday.
Scotland reported 1,011 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, the highest figure since February 17. Northern Ireland reported a further 105 cases.
The rise means that the UK's infection rate has now hit 49.2 cases for every 100,000 people in the last week. Scotland has the highest infection rate in the UK with 93.4, followed by England on 47.7, Northern Ireland on 26.2 and Wales on 13.7 - according to the UK government's coronavirus.data.gov.uk website.
The infection rates in all of the four nations of the UK are rising significantly although cases remain far lower in Wales. Hospitalisations with Covid are also starting to rise in England, although not yet in Wales. See what we know so far about that here.
There were six Covid deaths reported in the UK today, five in England and one in Scotland.
Today's figures come as Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London, whose modelling was instrumental to the UK locking down in March 2020, said that new modelling data submitted to the Government suggests a risk of "a substantial third wave" of coronavirus infections in the UK.
Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, Prof Ferguson said the data, which was compiled by SPI-M - a subgroup of Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) - suggests the third wave may not be as severe as the second wave in January, depending on the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines.
He said: "Basically it (the modelling) is saying there is a risk of a substantial third wave, (but) we cannot be definitive about the scale of that - it could be substantially lower than the second wave or it could be of the same order of magnitude.
"That, critically, depends on how effective the vaccines still are protecting people against hospitalisation and death against the Delta (Indian) variant, as well as a few other unknowns."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to make a decision shortly on whether England can go ahead with full reopening on June 21.
Asked if delaying the road map date would make a difference, Prof Ferguson said: "Yes, because it allows more people to get second doses."
He said efficacy for the second dose against the variant first identified in India was higher than after one dose.
A delay would also protect people and "have an effect on transmission, of getting more weeks of getting people vaccinated", he said.
