Covid: What are the new tiers and lockdown rules in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

The government has set out which tier each area of England will go into from Wednesday.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

Across the UK, some restrictions will be relaxed over Christmas, to allow three households to form a “Christmas bubble”.

What will England’s new lockdown rules be?

England’s current lockdown will end just after midnight on Wednesday 2 December. After that, regions will be placed in one of three tiers: medium, high and very high.

The vast majority of England will be placed into high and very high – tiers two and three.

Areas in tier two

• North West: Cumbria; Liverpool City Region; Warrington and Cheshire
• Yorkshire: York; North Yorkshire
• West Midlands: Worcestershire; Herefordshire; Shropshire and Telford & 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 (except the Isle of Wight), 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

Tier two (high) rules

• In tier two you can’t socialise indoors with anyone you do not live with, or who is not in your support bubble
• You can meet in a group of up to six outside – including in a garden, or a public place
• Shops, gyms and personal care services (such as hairdressing) can reopen (if Covid-secure)
• Pubs and bars can only open if they serve substantial meals. Alcohol can be served with that meal
• Sports can resume with up to 2,000 spectators, or 50% capacity (whichever is smaller)
• Collective worship, weddings and outdoor sports can resume (with restrictions)
• Non-essential foreign travel allowed, subject to quarantine rules
• People are advised not to travel to and from tier three areas

Areas in tier three

• North East: Tees Valley Combined Authority (Hartlepool; Middlesbrough; Stockton-on-Tees; Redcar and Cleveland; Darlington); North East Combined Authority (Sunderland; South Tyneside; Gateshead; Newcastle upon Tyne; North Tyneside; County Durham; Northumberland)
• North West: Greater Manchester; Lancashire; Blackpool; Blackburn with Darwen
• Yorkshire and The Humber: The Humber; West Yorkshire; South Yorkshire
• West Midlands: Birmingham and Black Country; Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent; Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull
• East Midlands: Derby and Derbyshire; Nottingham and Nottinghamshire; Leicester and Leicestershire; Lincolnshire
• South East: Slough (remainder of Berkshire is tier 2: High alert); Kent and Medway
• South West: Bristol; South Gloucestershire; North Somerset

Tier three (very high) rules

Additional restrictions apply:

• You can’t mix with anybody you do not live with, or who is not in your support bubble, indoors, or in private gardens and pub gardens
• You can meet in a group of up to six in other outdoor spaces, such as parks, beaches or countryside
• Hospitality venues – such as bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants must close, except for delivery and takeaway services
• Spectator sports cannot resume
• Indoor entertainment venues – such as bowling alleys and cinemas – must close
• People are advised not to travel to and from tier three areas

Areas in tier one

Only three areas have been placed in the lowest tier:

• South East: Isle of Wight
• South West: Cornwall; Isles of Scilly

Tier one (medium) rules

Areas in the lowest tier will have some restrictions relaxed:

• The rule of six will apply indoors and outdoors
• Pubs and restaurants can shut at 23:00 GMT, with last orders at 22:00 GMT
• Spectator sports can resume with a crowd of 50% of capacity, or 4,000 spectators, whichever is smaller

There are exceptions in all tiers for childcare and support bubbles. More details of the plan are here.

How were the tiers decided?

The new coronavirus tier restrictions will mean 55 million people will be banned from mixing with other households indoors. The decision about which tier to place an area in is based on:

• Total number of Covid cases in an area
• The number of cases in the over 60s
• The rate at which cases are rising or falling
• The proportion of test results coming back positive
• Pressure on the NHS

The tiers areas are in will be reviewed every 14 days, starting 16 December.

bbc