England’s new three-tier system came into effect on 2 December after the national lockdown was lifted.
Non-essential shops in all areas can reopen, as can gyms, hairdressers and other personal care businesses, with the formal instruction to stay at home coming to an end. The “rule of six” will again apply for outdoor gatherings in all areas.
Places of worship will be able to open and weddings will be allowed within local restrictions.
What are the rules in tier 2?
Under the new system, although hospitality venues will be allowed to stay open until 11pm – with last orders at 10pm – only those that serve substantial meals can operate. It means pubs and bars that do not will have to close.
As before, social mixing outside of households or support bubbles will not be allowed indoors. The rule of six will apply outdoors.
Spectators will be allowed to watch sport in tier 2, with a maximum crowd capacity outdoors of 50% of the capacity of the stadium or 2,000 people, whichever is smaller. Indoors, the maximum capacity is 1,000.
Indoor entertainment venues, such as cinemas, casinos and bowling alleys, can open, but must close at 11pm.
Everyone who can work from home should do so.
You can continue to travel to venues that are open, or for reasons such as work or education, but you should reduce the number of journeys you make wherever possible.
If you live in a tier 2 area, you must continue to follow tier 2 rules when you travel to a tier 1 area. However, avoid travel to or overnight stays in tier 3 areas other than where necessary
The government does not recommend that you travel from tier 2 into a tier 3 area, for example, to do Christmas shopping.
The full government rules and guidance for tier 2 can be found here.
When will the tiers be reviewed?
Changes to the tiers were announced on Monday 14 December and come into effect on Wednesday morning.
For five days over Christmas – from 23 December to 27 December – there will be a UK-wide relaxation of rules to let up to three households form a bubble so they can mix socially indoors and stay overnight to enjoy the festive period together, however MPs, scientists and doctors have called for a rethink of the policy. Businesses would continue to have to follow the tier 2 rules, so a multi-household “Christmas bubble”, for example, would not be able to go out and enjoy a meal out together during the period.
In Scotland, a maximum of eight people will be allowed but that does not include under-12s. In Northern Ireland, the window has been extended to 22-28 December to allow for additional travel time between countries.
Which areas are currently in tier 2?
North-west
Cumbria
Liverpool city region
Warrington and Cheshire
Yorkshire
York
North Yorkshire
West Midlands
Worcestershire
Herefordshire
Shropshire, and Telford and Wrekin
East Midlands
Rutland
Northamptonshire
East of England
Suffolk
Hertfordshire
Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough
Norfolk
Essex, Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea
Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes
London
All 32 boroughs plus the City of London
South-east
East Sussex
West Sussex
Brighton and Hove
Surrey
Reading
Wokingham
Bracknell Forest
Windsor and Maidenhead
West Berkshire
Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton
Buckinghamshire
Oxfordshire
South-west
South Somerset, Somerset West and Taunton, Mendip and Sedgemoor
Bath and North East Somerset
Dorset
Bournemouth
Christchurch
Poole
Gloucestershire
Wiltshire and Swindon
Devon
What areas are moving into tier 3 at 00:01am on Wednesday
London
All 32 boroughs plus the City of London
Essex
Basildon
Brentwood
Harlow
Epping Forest
Castle Point
Rochford
Maldon
Braintree
Chelmsford
Thurrock
Southend-on-Sea
Hertfordshire
Broxbourne
Hertsmere
Watford
Three Rivers
Due to the unprecedented and ongoing nature of the coronavirus outbreak, this article is being regularly updated to ensure that it reflects the current situation as best as possible. The most recent update will have been made at the date shown at the top of the article. Any significant corrections made to this or previous versions of the article will continue to be footnoted below in line with Guardian editorial policy.
