tonight at ten, a stark warning from the prime minister, as coronavirus infections in parts of england double every seven days. we are now seeing a second wave coming in. we've seen it in france, we've seen it in spain, across europe. i'm afraid it's been absolutely inevitable that we would see it in this country. from tuesday, large parts of the north west of england, the midlands and west yorkshire, will be banned from socialising at private homes. pubs and restaurants will close early. if it keeps people safe and secure and saves lives, people should do what we're requested to do, and if they lock us down, they lock us down. we have to do something to get rid of it. it's like fighting a war against something we can't see. with new restrictions affecting a fifth of the population,

the government believes the next few weeks are critical. also tonight... the government publishes its social ca re the government publishes its social care plan for england including fresh guidelines for visitors to their homes. the new siberia, as global warming melts permafrost, transforming the landscape. and, he's back. gareth bale returns to tottenham from real madrid, on a weekly wage of £600,000 a week. and coming up on bbc news, winged foot bares its teeth. tougher conditions proved treacherous at the top of the leader board on day two of the us open. good evening. after a significant rise in coronavirus cases, borisjohnson tonight warned that a second wave of the pandemic is coming. more than three million people

in england have now been told they'll face tighter restrictions from next tuesday, with merseyside, lancashire and parts of the midlands and west yorkshire coming under the same local rules now in force in the north east of england. the nhs nightingale hospital in birmingham is also now on high alert. the prime minister says he doesn't want another full scale national lockdown and he's determined to keep schools and businesses open, but he says it may be necessary to review whether tighter restrictions right across england are necessary. our first report tonight, is from our chief political correspondent, vicki young. the life we used to lead can no longer be taken for granted. we have to do something to get rid of it. it's like fighting a war against something we can't see. across the uk, governments have been trying to slow a second surge of coronavirus with local restrictions. it is confusing. like, one minute, they're encouraging us to go out monday, tuesday, wednesday, lunch and dinner and drinks, the next minute, police are round banging on doors,

chucking everyone out of houses. in wolverhampton, they‘ re preparing for further curbs on socialising from next week. coronavirus is no longer a local problem in a few hot spots. it's going to get bad again, i reckon. there's no lockdown any more here. like, no—one's taken notice of it. the prime minister was in oxford today, visiting scientists trying to develop a vaccine. that's fantastic, that's likejurassic park! but until they succeed, the government will consider tighter restrictions on everyone. we are now seeing a second wave coming in and i don't think anybody wants to go into a second lockdown, but clearly, you know, when you look at what's happening you've got to wonder whether we need to go further than the rule of six that we brought in on monday, so we'll be looking at the local lockdowns we've got in large parts of the country now, looking at what we can do to intensify things there. over the summer, the government's been talking about the path back to normality, encouraging us to spend money in restaurants

and return to the office. they're desperate to protect as manyjobs as possible, but they have to protect lives, too. covid cases are now doubling every seven to eight days, and that's prompting a rethink. in england, ministers are considering tighter restrictions for everyone — a so—called "circuit break". parts of the hospitality sector could be asked to close for a short time, but schools and workplaces would be kept open. this virus is on the rise again. leaders of the devolved nations are calling for an emergency meeting with the prime minister this weekend. the coming days are likely to see some hard, but necessary decisions. if we want to avoid another full—scale lockdown, which all of us do, doing nothing almost certainly isn't an option. there is a vacancy at the heart of the united kingdom, and it needs urgently to be filled. so that we can talk together, share information, pool ideas.

the labour leader says problems with the testing system mean it's much harder to control the spread of the virus. this feels very much like we were in february, and so we need quick, decisive action on a national scale from the prime minister. he needs to set out what he's going to do and reassure the nation. we will support him if he does that. many are enjoying these last days of summer. but ministers are already anxious about the severe challenges ahead. this is a marked change in tone from the government. yeah, i think the mood in government is pretty gloomy. they have a testing system which is under strain, they have a testing system which is understrain, an they have a testing system which is under strain, an economy that's under strain, an economy that's under strain, an economy that's understrain, and under strain, an economy that's under strain, and that strategy of stamping down on the virus and isolated hotspots, it feels like we are way past that. the mayor of london tonight thinking restrictions will soon be needed in the capital. the prime minister being much more

direct than he has been before, talking about this second wave that's coming. so the big question, what are they going to do about it? there are several ideas being discussed. 0ne there are several ideas being discussed. one of them is this short sharp shock, if you like, these restrictions being brought in for a short amount of time nationally, but the bbc has learned about another plan that was discussed yesterday, this was about a three tier approach. the first tier would be social distancing measures, the second one, a ban on households mixing and curfews on pubs and restau ra nts, mixing and curfews on pubs and restaurants, we've seen that in many parts of the country already. the third would be a stricter lockdown. we understand shielding is already red also under review but the problem the government has is if they want to suppress the virus because there is no vaccine available many restrictions will be needed for several months. there are very difficult decisions ahead and ministers don't have long to make them. vicki young, thank you, at westminster. so, with the rise in cases, what are the new restrictions millions will be under

from next week? well, there'll be no socialising with other households in private homes and gardens. pubs and restaurants will be required to shut by 10pm, and public transport can be used, but only for essential purposes, like going to work. these are the areas that will be affected from tuesday, including liverpool, wolverhampton and bradford with the new restrictions, being the same as those that came into force across the north east of england today. these new measures follow other areas in the uk currently under local restrictions, including bolton, birmingham and glasgow. here's our special correspondent, ed thomas. new rules are coming to go alongside covid rituals. device beeps. 33.6, that's all right. can i come in? no, you've got to do your hands. inside paula's hair and nail salon. you're taking this super—seriously. yeah. these people are very dear to us. all to protect people like carmel, 81, with the lung disease copd.

do you support what's being done? yes, definitely. i think really, we could have done with a complete shutdown for a couple of weeks for everybody, and then i don't think we'd have a problem. and you would feel safer with that, with copd? yeah, definitely. there's a fear here that these new rules are too little, too late. households can't mix in merseyside, pubs and clubs are closing. it's absolutely ridiculous. it should have been done months ago. i think we should have stayed in lockdown until at least the end of this year. but what about the economy, what about people with other conditions? that's it. i mean, i'm not scared of catching the disease, i'm scared of what it's doing to our society. as a country, how are we ever going to get over this? from merseyside to lancashire, millions of people face these new restrictions on mixing. so what next for best friends sam and kim? sam is waiting for bowel cancer test results.

kim suffers from acute anxiety. they need and rely on each other. what is your reaction to it? pathetic. why is it so important that you see your friend? because i've got mental health issues and she's got mental health issues. anxiety and depression, i've had it since christmas and i've been really bad since then. and as soon as the lockdown came in, it was ten times worse. but they don't want to go back to april, with thousands of people dying every day. yeah, i understand that. do they even live like we live? do they understand the impact that they're having on normal, everyday people? and for now in chorley, the show goes on. circus mondeo performs across the north west of england. but the places where they can go without audiences facing tighter rules is getting smaller. a business under pressure. the knock—on effect is, people don't come and if people don't come, we'll have to pack it all away and head off home.

are you worried that this could end this business? oh, it could, yeah. there's a great possibility that it could. but we also need a bit of sunshine in our life and a bit of entertainment and something to smile about, and that's what we're trying to do. tonight, public health leaders say they had to act. they need people here to follow the new rules, to bring infection rates down and prevent even tighter restrictions. ed thomas, bbc news, liverpool. the latest government figures show the highest daily number of new infections, since the current surge in cases began, with 4,322 new infections in the latest 2a period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 3,466. and as new cases have climbed, so have daily hospital admissions, with the weekly average at 221. data from scotland on this

is only published up until september seventh. 27 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, 17 deaths were announced every day, taking the total number, across the uk to 41,732. there are now more than a thousand people in hospital with coronavirus across the uk, and this, along with continuing reports of serious problems, in the testing system. here's our health editor, hugh pym. there are yet more stories of delays and frustration at virus testing sites. traffic came to a standstill in south london, as people who'd booked tests waited to get to the location they'd been told to go to. but at the site, there was no testing, just officials saying the bookings hadn't been registered and people should leave and try again. liya has symptoms and was driven down by her husband to get a test, enduring the heavy traffic,

but not getting what she needed. it was very upsetting, to be honest. because we were desperate to get a test, and we'd tried for so long, only to be turned away. and it takes so long to go through the process. i've also kind of lost the will to do it. 0ther testing sites were open, but most were fully booked. demand for tests has surged, partly because of an increase in coronavirus symptoms and cases. 0ne guide to what's happening comes in a random survey of people in the community by the office for national statistics. it picks up those who don't realise they have the virus. in its most recent week, the survey shows that nearly 60,000 people in england were infected. now, that's a lot fewer than in may. but the previous week, it was fewer than 40,000. that means one in 900 of the population in england were infected, with the highest rates in the north west and london. in wales, by comparison,

it was one in 2,000. the survey doesn't cover the rest of the uk. health officials are concerned that the numbers seriously ill in hospital with the virus are now rising, a delayed reaction to the spread in the community. admissions of patients to hospitals, some needing intensive care, have doubled in about a week across england. we are at a point where we are now seeing critical changes in the number of infections in hospitals. we're seeing a rise slower than happened in march, but nonetheless, if it continues to rise in the same way, we would expect to see similar numbers that we had in hospital at the end of march in about three to four weeks' time. so, the big question now is how much faster the virus will spread in communities and how many will need hospital treatment. how much, for how long? of course, this is anybody's guess, but it's also not inevitable how steep the curve up is going to be. so, the uk can write

its own history. so, it's very important that as fast as possible, as effectively as possible, we put measures in place. whatever those measures are, ensuring that the testing system is working properly to track the virus seems as critical as ever. i mentioned to vicki young the change of tone from the government, but this transformation of mood has been at lightning speed. well, yes, clive. if you say to people, there's 1000 in hospital, some might say, well, at the peak there were more than 19,000 well, at the peak there were more than19,000 in well, at the peak there were more than 19,000 in april, but it's this bead in the growth of the numbers. as we heard, hospital admissions in england have doubled in more or less a week and in fact public health england are saying that they are particularly concerned at the number of hospital admissions among older people over the age of 80 or so because the worry was when earlier this month casey started picking up, particularly amongst younger groups, that this would spread across the

community to older members of society. then of course you've got the r number which tells you how rapidly the virus is spreading or declining. anything above one means more than one person is being infected. the top of the range is 1.4 and the modellers say the number of infections could be doubling now in less than seven days, so that's the real worry. if you let it get out of control it continues accelerating and that is why each message we are talking about tonight are now being considered —— that's why these measures are being considered. 0ther economies like france and spain have the same problems, france reported 13,000 more cases in the latest days. it's the question of getting the balance right to intervene in good time and of course the public doing their bit with social distancing. 0k, many thanks, hugh pym. here, since the beginning

of the pandemic, more than 600 health and social care workers have died from covid—19 in england, scotland and wales. there have been no health worker deaths in northern ireland. 0ur correspondent, catherine burns, has been speaking to three people who lost loved ones on the same day in april, during the peak of the outbreak. if there was a factory that made human beings, kirsty would be the top—of—the—line model. grant was my life, to be honest. without sounding too cliche, he's very much a hero. all three died on april 20th after working on the nhs front line from the start of the pandemic. kirsty jones married her first love when she was 23. she was already working for the nhs in airdrie. all my adult life, kirsty‘s been there. all my happy memories, all my sad memories. grant maganga, originally from malawi — he met his wife at a party in manchester. he was my soulmate, he was my everything, my everything.

gerallt davies with his two sons outside buckingham palace last november, being honoured by the queen for his services to first aid. i'm getting a fag. and then more celebrations back at base in swansea. cheering. he seemed quite, not embarrassed, but humble by being given it. he'd never be talking about it. but i was just so proud that he had a moment before something like this has happened. they pulled her back into the front line, and she went. she was scared, very scared, but she wouldn't have said no to it. she knew people were needing help. he said to me, "i think i have covid". i said, "are you serious?" he said, "yes, i have to isolate."

when grant became breathless, she had to persuade him to go to hospital. it was a similar story forjonathan‘s dad. his oxygen was probably down to about 49, i think it was. it didn't quite mean anything to me, but i could tell by the look on the faces of the paramedics that that wasn't a good sign. we went and they sent us to hamilton, and that was the last i saw my wife alive, in the rear—view mirror of the car as she was walking into the place. i wish i could go back to that day, get out of the car and give her a cuddle. hospital visits were not allowed, so they had to wait for calls and messages to tell them how their loved ones were doing. we were texting and texting. the last day he texted me was four days before he passed away. like so many others, they needed to be put on ventilators. unconscious with machines breathing for them.

jonathan's dad facetimed the family before he went into intensive care. it's just so hard to take in, trying to be positive and trying to be strong, but the reality is that me and my brother were pretty crippled outside, trying to fight back the tears. on 20th april, all three families got a phone call saying their relative was soon going to die. kirsty‘s husband was allowed into the hospital as medics battled to save her life. they gave her cpr for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, maybe. i was in the room and had to witness that. it was one of the most horrible experiences i've ever seen in my life. their nhs colleagues have all paid tribute to them, and now their families want to thank the staff who cared for them

at their sickest. even though the worst outcome came to my family, they tried their utmost, they really tried their best for kirsty. i can be happy with my kids. when i see my kids, i think that he left something big with me that can make me happy, but i'm always sad inside me because he's not there to see them grow. for me, we've been devastated by it as a family. his friends as well. and then you think, that's another 40,000 plus people, and it'sjust such a sad time to think of these people, and we are not the only ones going through this terrible time. there's so many other families. jonathan davies there, ending that report from catherine burns. the government has tonight published details of its social care winter plan for england. all adult social care care providers will get free ppe,

there'll be more monitoring of the movement of care home staff, and there are new guidelines for visitors to care homes in restricted areas. 0ur social affairs correspondent, alison holt has more from lincolnshire. for care homes across the country, a comprehensive plan to help them keep the virus out this winter is vital. here at hartsholme house in lincoln, they look after nearly 50 people, many with dementia. for residents like dorothy, staying safe has meant she could only celebrate her 90th birthday from her balcony, her family in the garden below. we are able to swab different areas of the home to see how we're dealing with the covid. staff have documented for us how coronavirus has transformed life in the home. they now use huge amounts of costly protective equipment. today's government plan says all care providers will get that free for the next six months. carers now have to wear ppe throughout the day, masks, aprons.

good morning, can i take your temperature ? nationally, there will also be a chief nurse to provide guidance for the care sector. but here, they want reassurance that this time, their residence will get better access to health treatments if they fall ill. this is the home, just as members in the community, it is a huge home for a number of vulnerable people. so whoever lives here should be given exactly the same treatment as in the community. extra money is being provided to limit staff moving between homes, and the plan includes sanctions for care providers who don't do this as part of stopping the spread of the virus. hartsholme is run by the orders of stjohn. across the charity's 70 homes, there have been nearly 250 deaths of residents with covid—19. the boss says he's disappointed that there isn't more recognition of the work care staff have done. what we need is a responsive, financially supportive system that wraps itself around social care to take us through the winter.

beyond the winter, we need to recognise very firmly that the social care workforce rose to the challenge, and now they need to be recognised and rewarded properly. and relatives like glenn want clarity over visiting policies. he says not seeing more of his father—in—law has been tough. isolated from him would be the word, isolated. i'd like to come and visit him. i used to come every day, and it's hard for me not to visit him every day. the test of the winter plan will be whether it provides a care sector that's been through so much with confidence that support will be there if they need it. alison holt, bbc news, lincoln. let's take a look at some of the day's other stories. spending on diy products and household goods helped retail sales grow for a fourth consecutive month in august, up 0.8% compared with july. but sales in clothing stores were still almost 16% down on pre—lockdown levels.

the human rights lawyer, amal clooney, has resigned as the uk's special envoy on media freedom, in protest at the suggestion that the government could breach its obligations under the brexit withdrawal agreement. in a letter to the foreign secretary, she said britain's willingness to violate an international treaty could "embolden autocratic regimes that violate international law, with devastating consequences". from this weekend, americans will be barred from downloading the messaging and video—sharing apps tiktok and we chat. the trump administration says the companies threaten national security and could be used to spy for the chinese government. beijing denies this. scientists are warning that across siberia, vast areas normally frozen all year round are now thawing, with potentially devastating consequences for the global climate. in the second of his reports from churapcha,

in the remote yakutia region, our correspondent steve rosenberg looks at how the thawing permafrost is affecting notjust the climate, but also the landscape and livelihoods of those living there. something rather strange is happening in siberia. in the town of churapcha, these are the scars of climate change. rising temperatures mean that the frozen ground, the permafrost, is thawing, leaving a siberian teletubby land of mounds and hollows, ponds and lakes. it means less pastureland... and more trouble getting around. climate change has been causing all kinds of problems here. where we're driving now was completely flat 20 years ago. there was actually an airport here,

and this was the runway. but because the permafrost has been thawing, the ground has fallen away. the result? no more planes here now. siberia has a whole city built on permafrost — yakutsk. now we stay 12 metres under the surface. deep underground, they're monitoring the rate at which the soil is thawing because that affects not just the city, but the climate too. this is the permafrost? yes, it's the permafrost. you see this layer, it's enriched organic matter, the shrubs, the grass. and what happens when

the permafrost thaws? 0rganic matter contains a lot of greenhouse gases, and when the permafrost is thawing, they can go into the air. so the more the permafrost thaws, the more gases go into the atmosphere? absolutely right. scientists believe that this year's forest fires in siberia have accelerated permafrost thawing as far north as the arctic circle, contributing to global warming. but back in churapcha, ilya has no time to think about the fate of the planet. he's too busy plugging holes to try to stop this permafrost pond from becoming a lake and washing away the house he's building. all the scrap he can find, he's

dumping to insulate the permafrost. as for the house, like all the buildings here, stilts are essential to avoid that sinking feeling. translation: they say that global warming has started, so i don't know what's going to happen. but i'll leave that to my children to solve that problem. i'm too old to do it. but what will siberia be like for ilya's children if climate change isn't tackled now? at risk are whole communities and livelihoods. as it is, the land here, bizarre, disfigured, is already a permanent reminder that change is happening. steve rosenberg, bbc news, siberia.

when gareth bale left tottenham and the premier league for spain, seven years ago, he became the world's most expensive footballer. but now, afterfalling out of favour at real madrid, he's returning to the club that made his name, and he flew back to the uk today. here's our sports editor, dan roan. cheering. back where they feel he belongs, gareth bale returning to tottenham's training ground today to complete the transfer of the summer. chanting: gareth bale! gareth bale! he was born to play for spurs! not much social distancing, but plenty of delight. three in the box waiting for the cross, and bale, oh, what about that! bale comes back as british football's most successful ever export. the welshman won 13 trophies, including four champions leagues, during his time at real madrid. but injury and a falling out with manager zinedine zidane saw him sidelined. spain turned sour, and spurs swooped. he's just a special player.

i think this is an amazing signing for tottenham. i mean, i was looking at tottenham a week ago and i'm thinking, "well, i can't see any way they're going to make the top four this year". i thought they'd do well to finish top six. and suddenly, this has just changed everything. seven years ago, spurs pocketed a world—record £85 million for bale, and now he'll become the premier league's highest—paid player. his season—long loan will see him remain on his remarkable £600,000 a week salary. real have agreed to keep paying at least half of that, but spurs reportedly may still have to spend as much as £15 million. having met his new team—mates here this afternoon, gareth bale must hope that he proves value for money but the numbers involved in this transfer are sure to raise eyebrows at a time when clubs are losing hundreds of millions of pounds in matchday revenue and the lower leagues are desperate for help amid an unprecedented financial crisis. i don't think we can just point at particular transfers,