tonight at 10 — tough new restrictions are about to come into force across most of the north east of england amid a sharp rise in coronavirus infections. from midnight almost two million people will be unable to socialise with other households. pubs, bars and restaurants will have to shut at 10pm. it's spreading, really, isn't it, so if it saves it getting worse. because people can't come out with their friends, only people from their household, pubs won't survive. tonight we are just two hours to go until these new restrictions come into place. we will hear from those affected right across the north—east of england.

another lockdown in part of south wales has also come into force — meaning across the uk more than 9 million people are now living under stricter local coronavirus restrictions. demand for coronavirus tests is up to 4 times more than the number available — the head of test and trace says no—one predicted the huge surge in demand. it beggars belief, it takes is ages to getan it beggars belief, it takes is ages to get an appointment, and then you come and there is a car park full of people and they are not testing people. it is just ridiculous. amid a record number of new infections in france — we report from marseile — at the coronavirus epicentre — as intensive care units begin to struggle again. the childhood sweethearts whose life together was cut short by the manchester arena bombing — their families pay tribute to them at the inquiry. and the unprecedented wild fires burning along arctic circle — scientists say they're releasing record amounts of greenhouse gasses and contributing to global warming. and coming up in the sport on bbc news — rory mcilroy makes a great start to golf‘s second major of the year. four birdies puts him well

in contention in new york. good evening. from midnight tonight almost two million people in the north—east of england will be living under tougher restrictions on socialising after a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases. it's the biggest regional lockdown yet. the measures announced today affect seven areas in the north east of england — northumberland, north tyneside, south tyneside, newcastle upon tyne, gateshead, sunderland and county durham. the new restrictions for those areas will mean there'll be a ban on socialising with people outside your own household or support bubble. there will be table service only in restaurants and pubs, bars and restaurants — must close by 10pm.

the health secretary, matt hancock said the government was acting after seeing concerning rates of infection in the region. it means that one in seven people across the uk now faces some kind of extra restriction to their lifestyle. our special correspondent ed thomas reports. hello? hello, grandma, just to speak to you about the new lockdown rules and see what you think about it. lives are about to change once again. horrible, i'd onlyjust started going out a little bit. coronavirus cases had been rising since late august and today 2 million people we re august and today 2 million people were told today they will now be living by new rules. the health secretary applies the brakes. data says we must act now so we can control the virus and keep people safe. this means a ban on people mixing and pubs closing at ten o'clock. why has it come down to

hospitality? why have we got to pay for people not following the rules? to bring cases down. but will it do that? because people can't come out with their friends, only households, pubs won't survive, pubs willjust not survive. isolating people in and outside the home isjust crazy. sean has just reopened his outside the home isjust crazy. sean hasjust reopened his barber outside the home isjust crazy. sean has just reopened his barber is outside the home isjust crazy. sean hasjust reopened his barber is now he is checking on his grandmother. hasjust reopened his barber is now he is checking on his grandmotherlj won't he is checking on his grandmother.” won't be able to see my grandchildren and great—grandchildren. grandchildren and great-grandchildren. you will go and see your grandmother? yes, that's a massive distance. even if it is against the rules? yes, because she needs it. most here support the ban, but still there is confusion and worry.

closing the pubs at ten o'clock as if the virus isn't existing any time prior to them closing. move to northumberland, and it is a quieter pace of life, with fewer cases of coronavirus, but the same rules apply here. and once again, three generations of this family will be apart. how much do you rely on your support from your mum? i'm a single parent. so midnight tonight, everything changes. i know, again. i don't know why we have been included, no. but then, what can we do? nothing. it's awful because i'm so close but i can't see them. i don't even want to think about it yet. the height of the student area of newcastle bars and restaurants will close at 10p tomorrow, and the fee is as students return the virus will come with them. —— the fear. what you think about the new restrictions? i don't think they

will make any difference and i don't think there is any point to them. eleanor kate and steve are about to start life at university, they found lockdown hard but now they are about to face new restrictions. we can't go anywhere as seven of us and that is really ha rd go anywhere as seven of us and that is really hard for us. we were told to go to the pubs to eat out to help out but now we are told it is the fault of young people, so what you wa nt fault of young people, so what you want us to do, really? this time tomorrow, these bars will be empty. life under new rules. the public health officials say it is essential to stop the rise of coronavirus cases and protect the vulnerable. these new rules cover a huge part of the north—east of england, from the scottish borders all the way down to cou nty scottish borders all the way down to county durham. what is about to happen has been requested by the

local public health leaders and they are concerned about infection rates and they believed they had to act now to bring the virus numbers down and to prevent the spread from younger generations to the older population. but these are a significant change to people's lives here and tonight right now we don't know when these new rules will end. thanks forjoining us. a lockdown affecting almost a quarter of a million people in south wales came into force this evening. those living in rhondda cynon taff aren't allowed to leave the area without good reason for at least a fortnight, and they're banned from seeing anyone indoors who's not from their own household. our wales correspondent hywel griffith reports. back in to lockdown afterjust a few weeks of freedom, tonight people here are dealing with the consequences of new clusters of covid—i9. one is here in abercynon, where members of this social club went on a coach trip together

to doncaster last week. donna's partner was on board. she says some of the group had been tested for covid just before the outing, but hadn't had the results. there was about 15 of them on the bus. they'd done the same as they'd done every year. they didn't take precautions, because nobody had covid, so you wouldn't take precautions. they had a bet, they had a pint — same as what happens every year. nothing was done any different. the spike in cases has triggered new, tougher rules — an iipm curfew and a ban on meeting anyone not in your household indoors. for sian, it's all deeply frustrating. she'd managed to bring all her bar staff back from furlough, and even hire more workers, but now 30% of her bookings have cancelled. she blames the pubs who've not enforced social distancing. they'vejust been idiots, really, and spoiled it for everybody, because i'd say about 90% of businesses, 95% of businesses in the area, they're all really, really trying, and they're trying their hardest to do everything by the book,

and then you have the minority that's spoiling it for everybody. while no—one is meant to leave here without good reason, some are being encouraged to arrive. a new university term starts at this campus on monday. students are being told it is safe to move in, even though most staff have to work from home. if we have fewer staff here, only essential staff on any one day at any one time, that makes the campus more socially distant, and it's a way of helping to protect our students. this whole community will now be in lockdown until at least october. the fear is that could last even longer if cases continue to rise. hywel griffith, bbc news, pontypridd. the head of the nhs test and trace programme in england, dido harding, has admitted that no one expected to see the huge increase in demand for tests that has happened

since schools went back. during tough questioning from mps, she said there'd been a significant rise in the number of young children and teenagers going for tests, with demand now three orfour times higher than the daily capacity allows. our health editor hugh pym has more. i will show you where to step. that's ok. sarah and her son are looking forward to a new member of the family. she's 41 weeks pregnant and was due to have an important midwife appointment but she had to postpone it as she had a cough and needed a test, but couldn't get one on the official website. it's really important, just to put my mind at ease that everything's ok with the baby, and it's frustrating, you know, not knowing, not being able to get the care and not being able to get the test. i don't know how my care's going to proceed. paul, who is a teacher, has been trying and failing to book a test for members of his family. four days of trying to get testing and nothing at all, not even being offered testing 100 or 200 miles away, which at this stage i would take. if there was frustration for people

at home, there was even more for those in sunderland, who secured a booking, arrived at the site, but found no sign of any testing. it is an absolute joke, i've had to bring my three kids out of school, they are now missing out on vital education because of covid—i9 and not one person has turned up on the site. nobody here, so what do you do? so, we just have to go back home and try again, i guess. it beggars belief. it takes you ages to get an appointment, then you come and there is a car park full of people and they are not testing people. it'sjust ridiculous. elsewhere, though, some other testing stations like this one in west london appeared to be working normally. at this testing centre, people who have managed to get a booking are moving through. each morning, there is an allocation for those who haven't booked to just turn up, but people arrive very early and it goes quickly. one of those who did get a slot here told us it had meant a long walk with her child.

we tried to get a home test, missed that this morning, they had gone by the time i filled it out, missed the more local ones. we have actually walked six miles to get here. in the commons, one cabinet minister gave his opinion. instead of this endless carping, saying it's difficult to get them we should actually celebrate this phenomenal success of the british nation in getting up to a quarter of a million tests of a disease that nobody knew about until earlier in the year. the head of test and trace in england told mps that experts hadn't predicted the surge in numbers wanting tests. i don't think anybody was expecting to see the really sizeable increase in demand that we have seen over the course of the last few weeks. none of the modelling was that expected. and that's why i say, we all have to think really hard about how we prioritise the use of these tests, that we are clear you should only get tested if you have the coronavirus symptoms. the latest data for test turnaround times in england for the week

ending september 9th, showed thatjust 65% of results were sent to people the next day, down from 89% the previous week, and only 33% within 2a hours. testing sites are operating, but slots are being limited because laboratories to analyse tests a re overloaded, and ministers admit it could be a few weeks before that is dealt with. and hughjoins us now. better idea of the pressure the system is under, with demand three or four times greater than capacity. how can this be resolved quickly? the irish health minister said today that uk officials had approached him earlier in the week asking for help, getting test analysed in laboratories, and he said in his view, the uk system was almost in collapse, and the department of health has indicated it is not unprecedented to have test analysed outside the uk and they referred me to remarks by dido harding earlier, she said she strongly refuted the system was failing, and a key bit of

her evidence was over the issue of why capacity had not grown fast enough to meet the recent spike in demand? she said the plans had been based on modelling by scientific advisers on the government's bill and ted face the —— based on modelling by scientific advisers on the government's sage committee. this situation is a problem especially for key workers, who are stuck at home, wanting to get tested, but can't do so. thanks for joining get tested, but can't do so. thanks forjoining us. well, the latest government figures show there were 3,395 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week, is 3,354. 21 deaths were reported, of people who died, within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test, and that means on average in the last week, 14 deaths were announced every day,

taking the total number, across the uk, to 41,705. care homes in england are set to receive more than half a billion pounds in extra government funding to help them tackle the coronavirus over this winter. the money will help pay staff full wages when they are self—isolating, reduce their use of public transport and ensure staff work in only one care home. tomorrow the government will outline a plan to protect care homes from coronavirus over the winter. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. a lot of apples on there... for doreen amos, these warm september days are a chance to enjoy the garden at pelham house care home in folkestone before the chill of winter. it is, yes. oh, i love lavender. the home lost ten people — half its residents — at the height of the pandemic. it cares for those with dementia, and now, covid—free, it's trying to make life as normal as possible for doreen and others. it's very relaxing, yes, and i'm quite happy,

yes, and the meals are good and i've got a nice room. today's announcement of extra infection control money is to ensure staff are paid a full wage if they have to self—isolate and to limit the use of agency workers. the aim is to protect care homes from another wave of the virus, already a worry for many. with the flu... and even in the winter every other year, the hospitals are full up, so now with this on top, i'm terrified. absolutely terrified. for karen, the home's relief manager, better testing is the highest priority. last week, we were tested on a friday and got the results the following friday. so, for that whole week, everybody is on tenterhooks the whole time, not knowing whether they've actually got it, because the first time around, a lot of us

were asymptomatic so didn't even know we'd got it. the high number of deaths in care homes has, not surprisingly, had a huge impact. many care staff will say they're still exhausted, they've had little time to grieve and there's nervousness about what lies ahead. the government will publish its winter support plan for social care tomorrow. many care providers say more medical and financial support are essential to help them cope this winter. with fewer residents, pelham house has had to take out a last—minute business loan to survive — its owner sceptical about whether ministers will provide the help they need. we certainly could do with more practical help and support, and i think we still feel, actually, that there's a disparity between where we are and what we need and perhaps what the government says and what it does. the government says it's making testing care staff a priority and that, from the start of the pandemic, it's been doing everything it can

to protect care home residents and staff. alison holt, bbc news. so with the number of new infections continuing to rise daily and deaths starting to creep up, how does the situation here compare with the situation in march and to other countries in europe? 0ur medical editor fergus walsh has his assessment. let's start by looking at the areas of the uk which are subject to extra restrictions, marked here in blue. by the end of the week, it's thought around 9 million people in the uk will be subject to extra controls. that's around one in seven people. it's all because of the rise in cases across the uk. we're in a much better place than we were back in mid—april, when cases were peaking at over 5,000 every day. but that figure is completely unreliable because we weren't doing much testing in the community. it was probably more like 100,000 new cases every day. then cases fell until about mid—july

and started to rise again. we are now seeing more than 3,000 cases every day, but that figure too is unreliable, because many people can't get a test. so it could be much higher. it's thought that cases are doubling in the uk every seven to ten days, and what matters is the effect that will have on hospitals. if we look at england, in early april up to 3,000 patients a day were being admitted to hospital with a confirmed covid diagnosis. the numbers now are much smaller, though at their highest level for two months. we should expect patient numbers to rise as winter approaches. the key question, though, is by how much? mortality has dropped substantially. just one in 100 death certificates in england and wales now mention covid, the lowest level for six months.

let's look at some european comparisons. spain and france have both seen a big resurgence in coronavirus cases, and an increase in hospitalisation. but nowhere near the level of the first peak. the uk government has warned the uk could be heading the same way, unless people follow social distancing guidelines. finally, an outlier, sweden, never imposed a compulsory lockdown and face masks are not recommended there in public places. they had a much higher death rate than their nordic neighbours in the first wave, but now their cases are staying low. fergus walsh reporting there. the world health organisation says the rate of new infections of coronavirus across europe is alarming and should serve as a wake—up call. today france saw a record number of new infections, with more than 10,500 new cases in 2a hours.

the number of deaths has risen also again. marseille is the at epicentre of this new wave of infections with doctors saying hospital wards in the city are now "nearing saturation" and only a handful of intensive care beds still available. lucy williamson reports from marseille's main hospital. a warning — there are images you may find distressing. marseille's main intensive care unit has become a changing room again. familiar routines resurrected for a new wave of covid patients. this time, it's a 65—year—old man on life support. they're putting a camera down his throat, one of the riskiestjobs. the ventilators on their suits purify the air inside their masks. these are the patients' only visitors. his wife calls for news once or twice a day. she's not allowed in to see him. now it's becoming very disturbing because we are split between the desire to treat

the patient, of course, as best as possible, and also to treat non—covid patients in the appropriate way. that is, to find icu beds, to have surgery, to manage trauma patients and so on. so, it's very difficult to manage. marseille is the epicentre of france's new covid crisis. the director of public hospitals here says the system is nearing saturation, with only a handful of intensive care beds left and 100 extra staff recruited in the past week. this icu, marseille's biggest, is now almost full. the nightmare for units like this one is a sudden rise in the rate of infections. this hospital is sending two covid patients to intensive care each day. a sudden spike would overwhelm them. rates of infection in marseille are now twice that of paris. 0ver10% of those tested here are positive. at this centre today it was first

come, first served, but getting a test isn't always easy. this woman told us she'd had symptoms since monday. translation: it's a panic, a real panic. it's stressful. there are no appointments available on the government's testing website and the doctor's website tells me there's nothing until the end of september. the government admitted today there were bottlenecks in major cities, despite a new system that is meant to prioritise care workers and those with symptoms or contact with cases. testing. groups larger than ten are now banned from beaches and parks. the price of a post—lockdown summer when thousands mingled here together. a summer that swapped isolation for infection, now sending its waves out across france. lucy williamson, bbc news, marseille. let's take a look at some

of today's other news... thailand and singapore have been added to the safe travel list for people coming to england and scotland. wales has also added thailand and gibraltar, meaning anyone returning after four on saturday morning won't need to quarantine — though if you want to fly to thailand or singapore you'll still have to quarantine when you get there. meanwhile travellers arriving from slovenia and guadeloupe will now need to self—isolate after they were added to the list. staff atjohn lewis and waitrose won't receive their annual bonus this year, for the first time since 1953. the company posted half—year pre—tax losses of £635 million, with department store profits down 46% following enforced coronavirus closures. it said trading hadn't been this bad since just after world war ii. the inquiry into the manchester arena bombing has been hearing more tributes and testaments from the families of

the 22 people who died in may 2017. today the families of liam curry and chloe rutherford spoke about the teenagers, childhood sweethearts, who'd planned a life together. 0ur north of england correspondent judith moritz reports. manchester wears its history on its skin. you see references to the arena attack all over the city, not an easy place to visit for those hurt and bereaved. but each day, they come to pay tribute to those they've lost. the parents of chloe rutherford and liam curry together, to tell the court a love story. she was hisjuliet and he her romeo. chloe and liam were teenage sweethearts. they dated for three years and planned to marry and have children — their families deprived of all that. trying to make sense out of something that will never, ever make sense. how do we make the world turn again?

how do you mend our shattered hearts? they wanted to be together forever, and now they are. simon callander is another parent who's grieving and angry. she's my daughter. she was someone. his daughter, georgina, another teenager who was ticking off milestones, with a bright future all mapped out. all that potential snatched away by an evil person who didn't even know or care about my little girl. i hope he rots in the deepest, darkest part of hell. these are families whose loss is still raw. their tributes are obviously painful. but somehow, they've been finding the strength to give them and even to come to court and listen to other families and support them through the process. philip tron‘s mum and uncle brought his photo with them as they played their tribute to the court. philip was a family—loving guy who had a huge personality. philip had a bit of a swagger

about him and, having a good sense of humour, he was also a bit of a joker. his mum, june, was in a bad place for many months after the bombing. she believed that she was living in a parallel world or existence that she would wake up from and phil would be there. each of those who died has a story to be told. the tributes are known as "pen portraits", and more families will make the journey to give them next week. judith moritz, bbc news, manchester. unprecedented wildfires have been burning along the arctic circle for months now, releasing record amounts of greenhouse gases. scientists say the fires across siberia, fuelled by abnormally high temperatures, are contributing to global warming. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg travelled to the remote yakutia region, in north eastern russia, to gauge the effects of climate change, both on local communities and on the planet.

in siberia, they call their forests the lungs of the planet. if that is true, our planet is in big trouble. we were given a bird's eye view of a climate emergency. from the air, siberia's forest fires look like armageddon. a heatwave has been fuelling them and they are releasing record amounts of carbon. and because of the vastness of siberia, fighting them is incredibly difficult. this region alone, yakutia, is 13 times the size of britain. what's happening here in siberia has consequences for the whole world. scientists believe these forest fires are producing huge amounts of greenhouse gases that are changing the climate

of the planet. russia has one fifth of the world's forests. if they are burning, the fallout is global. for a closer look, we switch transport and head into the siberian forest with the rangers. it is slow going. this is a real siberian forest path. not easy to get down, it will take us a while to get to the fire. but we are on the right track. it soon becomes clear that fire has swept through here, destroying larch and silver birch and turning parts of this fairy tale forest into a wasteland.

when we catch up with the flames the forest rangers do their best with what they've got. but no sooner is one fire out... ..another sparks. it is siberia's equivalent of a david versus goliath. this ranger says it is getting hotter here every year. he is spending more and more time in the forest. translation: i spend nearly all my summers now fighting fires. my wife and three kids awaiting for me at home. but this is a job i must do. for the planet, there is a double danger here.