The UK's coronavirus death toll is up by 612 and the number of confirmed cases has risen by 25,161 in the last 24 hours.
It takes the total number of fatalities within 28 days of a positive test to 65,520 and the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,930,277.
The number of deaths is up from last Wednesday where the death toll rose by 533.
The number of cases today is 8,582 higher that a week ago when the UK recorded an additional 16,578 infections.
The number of coronavirus hospital deaths in England have risen by 369 in the last 24 hours.
Scotland has recorded 38 more deaths, and another 8 coronavirus patients have lost their lives in Northern Ireland.
Wales is yet to update its figures.
The UK's true death toll is thought to be much higher as 75,092 deaths have so far been registered where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the latest reports from Britain's statistics agencies.
The news comes as Boris Johnson told families to keep Christmas celebrations "little" as he announced tougher guidance for the festive period.
In a significant shift, people are now advised to keep Christmas short, small and local, with particular concern for vulnerable people.
Speaking at a No10 press conference, Mr Johnson urged people to "exercise extreme caution" over the festive period and consider isolating from Friday if they can.
People are advised to keep it local, not travel from a high to low risk area and not stay overnight if possible under the new guidance.
The Prime Minister said the coronavirus situation was "worse, more challenging" that when the rules were drawn up - but the Government did not want to "criminalise" people for seeing their loved ones over Christmas.
Mr Johnson told the public: "We’re keeping the laws the same but we all want to send the same message - a smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas, and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas.”
The current rules say up to three households can form an exclusive Christmas bubble between December 23-27.
Mr Johnson said: "When we say three households can meet on five days I want to stress these are maximums and not targets to aim for.
"It's always going to be safest to minimise the number of people you meet."
He added: "If possible don't travel from a high prevalence to a lower prevalence area and avoid staying away from home overnight if you can."
Mr Johnson also urged people to avoid the Boxing Day sales and other large crowds.
The latest advice comes after Mr Johnson told MPs that the Christmas rules had been agreed "in principle" across the UK - but it emerged soon after Wales and Scotland plan to diverge on some guidance.
In Wales, the number of households that can bubble together has been reduced to two, rather than three.
The country will also be plunged into a full lockdown on December 28, First Minister Mark Drakeford said.
Nicola Sturgeon advised Scots not to meet indoors at all if possible but if it was "essential" to meet inside then she advised people to meet for only one day and to not stay overnight.
