tonight at ten — more than two thirds of england will be living under the tightest coronavirus restrictions from saturday, amid a continued rise in infections. large parts of southern england will move into tier three — and there's no easing up for much of the north of england, despite a fall in new cases. i know that tier three measures are tough, but the best way for everyone to get out of them is to pull together, not just to follow the rules, but do everything they possibly can to stop the spread of the virus. only a handful of areas are having restrictions eased, as concern mounts about the months ahead. northern ireland is plunged into a six—week lockdown starting on boxing day — non—essential shops will be forced to close. a surprise move from the chancellor, as he extends the furlough scheme until the end of april — a move that underlines

the difficult winter ahead. a phone call with brussels tonight, downing street warns that post—brexit trade talks are in a serious situation and an agreement is looking unlikely. remember, the show will go on. short, sharp and hopeful — celebrities and key workers with their message in just six words, at the end of a year like no other. and coming up in sport on bbc news... manchester united are looking to move into the top six as they travel to sheffield united in the premier league. good evening. millions more people in the east and south—east of england are being moved into tier three — the toughest coronavirus restrictions from saturday.

it means 38 million people in england will be in the highest tier — the areas shown here in red. that's more than two thirds of the country. bedfordshire, buckinghamshire, berkshire and hertfordshire are the latest to be subject to the strictest rules, along with most of surrey, and parts of east sussex, cambridgeshire and hampshire. the only parts of the country being moved into lighter restrictions are bristol and north somerset, which go from tier three to tier two, and herefordshire, which goes from tier two to one. the changes come just days before the five—day relaxation of rules over christmas. here's our health editor, hugh pym. this is what tier three looks like. closed bars, pubs and some other venues, it's what many areas of england have experienced for a while and now more parts of the south—east will join them, following others which moved up yesterday. the government said the tightening was required to bring virus cases down.

no one wants tougher restrictions any longer than necessary, but where they are necessary, we must put them in place to prevent the nhs from being overwhelmed and protect life. labour offered support for the new tier moves but called for tougher rules over christmas. portsmouth, gosport and havant have moved up from tier two to tier three. health officials say virus case rates in all age groups are increasing across most of the area. local people gave us their reaction to tighter restrictions. i think we should have been put into tier three a bit sooner, just to sort of keep it lower again. portsmouth has got quite a high rate of covid and i think we're only half that rate and i know we are so close, it must be awkward, but i think it would have been better to stay in tier two. tier three restrictions require no household mixing indoors or in private gardens, pubs and bars and restaurants are closed apart from takeaway, accommodation like hotels is also shut.

there's advice against travel out of the area. but over the festive season, three households can form a christmas bubble. pubs, bars and restaurants will still be closed, accommodation will be open for individual households. travel is permitted between tiers and uk nations, though with warnings for people to think carefully before going. pressure on the nhs is mounting, with more covid patients, and there are fewer beds because of social distancing. london's hospitals are understood today to be under particular strain. here's what's been happening with daily covid hospital admissions in the south—east of england. the solid line there is the seven—day rolling average. and you can see it's been rising pretty steeply in recent weeks and is back where it was in late april, just after the peak of the first wave. and here's what's been happening in the north west of england. hospital admissions rose sharply throughout october and then came down a bit, though they do appear to have levelled off.

a hospital sector leader told me that the christmas easing could create further problems. if people push those rules much stronger than they should do and they don't exercise proper restraint, then what you can see is very large numbers of people coming into hospital injanuary and the nhs finding it very difficult to treat all of those patients. one area has moved down to tier one, herefordshire. that means up to six people can meet in households. this is really exciting and it is good to see that the coronavirus is not as bad here, so it means we can socialise more, be able to spend more time with our families, especially now it's near christmas. i think it is a nice idea that it's tier one, but i still think we need to be very, very aware of the situation. and even here health officials are worried. one said they were disappointed and that relaxing the rules just ahead of mixing at christmas would inevitably result in more infections. hugh pym, bbc news.

there was disappointment for many across large swathes of northern england as the toughest tier three restrictions remained in place. the government said it base its decisions on which tier an area should be in including the number of cases in area, the age of those affected and the pressure on the nhs. here's our north of england correspondent, judith moritz. in greater manchester, they had high hopes of moving from tier three to tier two. the lowry theatre took the gamble it would happen. having already postponed its production of six the musical once, it was scheduled to open on saturday. instead, the stage will continue to stay dark. along with the producer, we've committed to get the show ready, the cast are here, they are rehearsed, the set is in place, we were good to go and incredibly disappointed today to hear that that now won't be possible. for our business, for our sector, usually we generate about 25% of our total revenues over that christmas period so this is a huge issue.

the government says that greater manchester hasn't satisfied all the criteria needed to move it from tier three down to tier two. but some boroughs, like stockport, trafford and tameside, have lower infection rates than the rest of the city. and there's frustration from some who say their progress hasn't been recognised. our rates are lower than they are in neighbouring warrington or in neighbouring cheshire, which have been put into tier two, and are also lower than they are in bristol, which has been moved from tier three to tier two today. what exactly do we have to do to be moved out of tier three? in leeds, infection rates have dropped by two thirds in four weeks, but it stays in tier three, meaning pubs, like the black bull in otley remain closed, even though those down the road in tier two, north yorkshire, are open, to the irritation of publicans mel and malcolm. people are just jumping over

to harrogate, or they're jumping over to ripon, north yorkshire. where does that leave us? obviously, financially, desperate. it's just very confusing. we appreciate there's got to be boundaries somewhere along the line. but when you're so close to them it's a bit frustrating, really. the north—east also remains in the highest restriction level. local leaders there say they accept the decision on health grounds but need a greater understanding of how moving out of tier three will be decided in the new year. the government has acknowledged the disappointment from the north of england, saying no one wants tougher restrictions for any longer than necessary. judith moritz, bbc news, manchester. the latest government figures on coronavirus show another 35,383 cases have been recorded in the latest 24—hour period — that includes those previously unreported cases from wales. it means the average number

of new cases reported per day in the last week was 22,983. 1,704 people were admitted to hospital on average each day over the week to last friday. 532 deaths were reported for the last 2a hours — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test. on average in the past week, there were 424 deaths per day. the total number of uk deaths is now 66,052. northern ireland is being plunged into a six—week strict lockdown — starting on boxing day. non—essential shops will have to close, as will hairdressers and beauty salons. pubs and restaurants can only do takeaways. but three households can still mix over christmas. our ireland correspondent emma vardy is in belfast. these are drastic measures. how much of a surprise we re were they?

a lot of people were expecting more restrictions on the new year but this is a shock because it goes further and is a lot stricter than people would have realised. the situation in northern ireland at the moment has been described as dire. previous periods of restrictions that have come and gone, ministers just don't believe they have had enough of an impact, so when this all kicks in again on boxing day we will see once again hospitality and nonessential retail closing, but come on top of that, this time even stricter measures. for the first week people will be asked not to leave their homes between 8pm and 6am and even those essential shops that are staying open will be asked to close at 8pm and no sporting events will be allowed to take place events will be allowed to take place even those that are at elite level. for now, schools are remaining open but ministers are looking at possible limitations, things like staggering classes. today, the deputy first minister michelle

o'neill said she knows these measures will be seen as draconian, but warned that the health service could be crushed in the new year if this didn't go ahead now. bubbling arrangements will continue over christmas but almost as soon as the last piece of turkey is eat and it's going to be straight back to lockdown. emma vardy, thank you. the chancellor, rishi sunak, has extended the furlough scheme for another month, meaning it will now run until the end of april next year. the scheme pays workers up to 80 % of their salary, for hours they can't work because of the pandemic. our economics editor faisal islam is here. this has come as something of a surprise. and the recognition of the tough months ahead? the fellow scheme was designed as a bridge to some semblance of economic normality and that needs to be extended by a month to the end of april but as important is the notion, the generosity of the scheme, which was due to be reviewed is now sticking at 80% subsidy for wages from the

government all the way until the end of april. what is driving this is i think concerned that the health emergency will be more intense and more long—lived than had been anticipated just a few weeks or months ago, and that will have a knock—on effect for tiered restrictions perhaps even national lockdowns, and also on top of that evenif lockdowns, and also on top of that even if the vaccine programme went perfectly there is still, you have to wait for economic normality to return and people to have the confidence to voluntarily go to restau ra nts a nd bars confidence to voluntarily go to restaurants and bars and go on holiday again. this also happens to cover the period of possiblejob losses, the trade description at the end of brexit transition period, but it's a sign of the health emergency and the economic challenge lasting longer than expected. faisal islam, thank you. in wales, more people died with covid than anything else in november — for the first time in six months. and it seems that the true level

of new infections in wales could be twice the figure previously thought. an extra 11,000 positive cases have emerged because of data that was not originally counted due to computer maintenance. our correspondent sian lloyd reports on the struggle to control the spread in wales. christmas plans are changing. more restrictions are looming. people in wales face another lockdown as covid rates continue to climb. there is concern about the record number of covid patients in welsh hospitals. and with 25% of her nursing team currently infected or self isolating, this hospital consultant feels the pressure daily. you really just feel like you are firefighting here, you are running from one sick patient to the next and you know, the staff that are dealing with these patients have been doing this for nine months, ten months now, but they are still there offering themselves on their days off. we may reach a tipping point where that goodwill runs out or we just have so many people off sick that we just cannot, you know, get the staff. the actual number of covid infections in wales is higher

than people here thought. a delay in reporting more than 11,000 positive test results means that the number of cases in the last week was twice as high. public health wales said planned it maintenance work was the reason for the delay and the first minister said he was aware of the issue. this isn't a computer problem, this was planned upgrading of the computer system. none of the data is missing, everybody who had a positive test was told that in wales last week. the situation is described as serious. today's figures show that the covid case rate for wales has jumped from 530 cases per 100,000. the mortality rate stands at 260 deaths per 100,000 people, higher than the rate in england of 191. overall, 27% of all patients in welsh hospitals are being treated for coronavirus. people are being placed under new restrictions to try and prevent further cases and deaths here.

but families are facing difficult choices. in wales, only two households can form a christmas bubble together with a single person. actually, it is a bit of a relief for me. so i don't have that risk... sue and herfamily had planned on spending christmas day with her parents and brother's family, but will now celebrate together online. no, we cannot risk it, it is just too difficult. they are in tier 3 now and we are obviously going on lockdown after, whenever it is, after boxing day or whenever it is, so, you know, it is all becoming, well, let'sjust, you know, put the shutters up. a challenging month ahead, lockdown begins here on december the 28th but there is no sign of when it will end. sian lloyd, bbc news, cardiff. secondary school pupils in england and wales will have a staggered return to the classroom injanuary. in england, exam—year students will go back as normal after the christmas break, but others will start school online.

the government says the move will allow head teachers to set up the mass covid testing scheme for schools announced earlier this week. but there are big questions about how testing will be delivered, as our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. a couple of weeks ago, this school was still mainly full. now, all the pupils are learning remotely — the kent coast hit by too many cases. today the news — january will see a gradual return. to threaten schools with the coronavirus act and to park it, to then two days later effectively say, actually, online learning is the important thing and we're going to stagger the return after christmas, to me, itjust shrieks of not clear thinking and, really, not a great deal of understanding of what's happening on the ground. in the new year, children who are vulnerable, those of key workers, can go back at the start of term. primary schools will be straight back on the first day of term

but in secondary schools, only years 11 and 13 will be going straight into their classrooms. all the other year groups will have to learn remotely untiljanuary11th. now, that's exactly the date that was suggested by at least one council, leading some to see this as a massive government climb—down. what we've said all the way through, and we've seen, ever sincejune, we're maximising the number of children in school, and it's so important to get children into school and into the classroom. at every stage, we will take a robust and strong stance to ensure schools are open because as the chief medical office for england said, there's actually... children are best in schools — it's the safest place for them to be. some parents want greater certainty.

of interrupted schooling and i think it is upsetting and detrimental to oui’ it is upsetting and detrimental to our children's education. testing starts injanuary in england's schools. the army helped try it out. schools are now expected to train volunteers, get parents to give consent for every child. how precisely is that going to work? how is the training going to be done of staff who've never done that before ? how will that be reassuring to parents and what will the role of the army be in all of this? once again, we're left on the back foot with so many questions, so much of a sense of chaos when our young people, their parents, frankly, deserve better. with the term almost over, schools face making new plans over the holidays. although some will welcome this more cautious approach. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. the prime minister has spoken to the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, on the phone tonight, as uk and eu negotiators continue

to try to thrash out a post—brexit trade deal. borisjohnson says the talks are in a very serious situation with time running out, and he has warned there won't be an agreement unless the eu changes its position substantially. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. can it, will it, will it really be done? the prime minister and the eu chief have talked again about the deal they both want, but both say cannot be at any price. they have talked again and again, but signing on the dotted line is some distance away. in their call tonight, borisjohnson said the negotiations were now in a serious situation. time was very short and it now looked very likely that agreement would not be reached unless the eu position changed substantially. and on the sticking point of fishing rights, he went on to say, the eu's position in this area was simply not reasonable and if there was agreement, it needed to shift significantly. the eu chief's comments were perhaps

less punchy, saying, we welcomed substantial progress on many issues, however big differences remain to be bridged, in particular on fisheries. bridging them will be very challenging. challenging, political speak for very hard indeed. the government and the eu want to avoid a failure of not agreeing a deal, but listen to how a senior cabinet minister assessed the chances today. regrettably, the chances are more likely that we won't secure an agreement, so at the moment, less than 50%. both sides do want a deal, for the economy, for our security and to avoid disruption and it is not in either of their interests to pretend this has all been easy, but there is a danger in assuming that this is all an act, that any moment now politicians will seize victory from the jaws of defeat. it seems tonight there are still real issues of principle to be resolved.

hello! they are still talking. the two negotiating teams will meet tomorrow. any chance for an agreement this week? close, so close to what, for once, is a real deadline. reluctant, but maybe just willing to test if no deal really is better than a bad deal after all. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. the government is to spend £30 million on fire alarms in high rise blocks because hundreds of them still have flammable cladding on them three and a half years after the grenfell tower fire. there's also money to help residents of this sheffield block to return to their homes in time for christmas, after they were made to leave because of fire safety problems at the weekend. the deadline for a £1 billion government fund to fix problems — due to finish at the end of the year — has also been extended for six months. senior officials in north—western nigeria have told the bbc that 344 school boys kidnapped last week have been released.

the boys were taken from this boarding school by criminal gangs thought to be under the leadership of islamist militant group boko haram. local officials said the boys would soon be reunited with theirfamilies. the chief executive at dover, europe's busiest trucking port, says he's expecting some disruption when britain finally pulls away from the eu at the end of the year. dover is already struggling to cope with supply issues due to the coronavirus pandemic. the port handles up to £122 billion worth — or 17% — of the uk's trade in goods. it deals with up to 120 ferry crossings a day, and up to 110 miles worth of lorries per day. so how prepared is the port, along with the companies which use it, for the weeks and months ahead? from dover, our business editor, simonjack, reports. radio: there are long, long delays because of lorries waiting to get

into the docks into dover... this might be the most important trade route in europe, the approach to dover. 9,000 lorries a day transport nearly a fifth of all goods bought and sold in the uk. avoid the a2 in that area at all costs... that wasn't an option for these drivers this morning. here on the road, six hours. six hours in traffic? there are still two weeks to go before the biggest change in decades to trade with our biggest partner, so is dover ready? the port is as prepared as they can be. we've been at this for four years now. i think the most uncertain thing is how prepared is business to trade post 1st of january? there's an aspect of our operation where certainly if we add some additional friction to it, it's going to slow things down but the critical thing will be, at what point is that a tipping point? because it will take 24—36 hours via other routes to do the same thing that we can do in about six hours via this route. dover is the most important artery

serving the blood stream of uk business and the challenge ahead is set against the logjam of other issues: disruption coming out of china, people bringing christmas stock, brexit stockpiling and on top of that, in 14 days, a whole new set of procedures for the first time in decades, requiring paperwork that many businesses haven't mastered, which they will need — deal or no deal. at the moment, they seem to be stuck in calais. logistics director adam shuter said he's seen truck movements rise 50% as traders scramble to get stuff in before year end. he said his customers haven't been given all the information they need. the detail is not there and because the detail‘s not there, people are saying, yes, we need to get ready but they don't know what to do and in lots of respects i think they'rejust giving up and i think they're just saying, we'll wait and see what happens. brexit will mean 200 million additional customs declarations, requiring tens of thousands of customs agents that we don't have, according to a man who is training new agents.

it could well be that we have a chronic shortfall of customs agents. it's the export side of things, that's what really worries me because if you want to take your goods to france, you've got to do an export from now on and if you've got no means of doing that, it's going to be hard to find that means when it comes to the ist january because if you came to our company, we'd almost certainly turn you away and most other agents would as well. we just don't have the staff to take on the additional work. the government has provided grants for training new agents and will waive requirements for customs forms on imports till july but this isn't about lorries, it's about toys, car parts and building supplies going undelivered. supply chains are fraying before the uk's journey into the unknown. simonjack, bbc news, dover. a few weeks ago we brought you the story of father alex and pastor mick from burnley in lancashire — and the work they're doing to help people in the poorest parts of their community to cope with the challenges of the pandemic. many were struggling with unemployment and mental health problems and faced

an uncertain future. well, since that report, thousands of people have donated to the cause — raising more than £250,000. our special correspondent ed thomas reports. we need social distancing or we're going to get in trouble! chicken curry. high—quality bag for you, love. in november, we followed pastor mick... you see all these people? they have children. hungry children. ..as he fed and clothed families during the pandemic. the needs massive, absolutely colossal. a couple of day's food would mean everything to us. if it hadn't have been for all these, basically, we'd be dead. and we witnessed father alex struggle... ..facing so much desperation. it's hard to watch it, it's really difficult. but it's important stuff.

anybody not got owt? it's been more than two weeks since this report went out. there's tuna pasta bake and all sorts in here. in that time, more than £250,000 has been donated to st matthew's and church on the street. really overwhelming to see so much money come in. we didn't expect any money and we certainly didn't do the piece to raise money but people's generosity will mean that we can do some really lovely things. we're going to be able to open a community hub. they'll be able to hook up with councils, be able to speak and offer some great services that people can't get, theyjust can't access, we'll be able to do that. and what impact will that have on people's lives? it'll keep them alive. they won't die. and it's that simple. pot noodles, that kind of stuff, all right? father alex and pastor mick have been inundated with messages of support from around the world. well, the last days and weeks have been an absolute whirlwind.

it's been mind blowing, the phone calls. people ringing from france and johannesburg. what's been achieved in a week would have taken us five years. it kind of restores your faith in human nature, notjust in god. it seems to have touched a nerve and touched a chord across the country. for now, the donations are providing much needed hope. we've been heard and we've been heard by the people and it's the people who have supported us. there's not many people lose a child. but the worry is that, post—pandemic, the struggles, seen in places like burnley, will deepen. i don't want to think about the future. there isn't one. you showed a burnley problem but you showed a problem in the wider country. somebody has to find a solution to this issue. not sure it lies as the responsibility of a vicar or a pastor. we pray this prayer in jesus' name, amen. the government says it's committed

to reducing deprivation and has spent £100 billion on welfare support this year. ed thomas, bbc news, burnley. the russian president, vladimir putin, has dismissed claims that his security services had anything to do with the poisoning in august of the prominent kremlin critic alexei navalny. mr putin said if they'd been behind the attack on mr navalny, who's still recuperating, they would have finished the job. president putin was appearing at his annual news conference in moscow. steve rosenberg went along and spoke to the kremlin leader. this was something new. video conferencing with vladimir. due to the coronavirus pandemic, for his annual end of year news conference, russia's president took social distancing to the extreme and stayed at home. forfour and a half hours, journalists competed for a chance to ask the kremlin leader a question.

he speaks russian. mr president, i ask, after 20 years in power, don't you accept at least some responsibility for the new cold war between russia and the west? or are the russian authorities squea ky—clean? translation: i feel responsible for what is going on in russia, for its people, and i will do everything in the interests of russia. as for being squeaky—clean, we are, compared to you. you promised that nato wouldn't expand into the east, but you didn't keep your word. shouting. i asked, too, about mr putin's most vocal critic, alexei navalny. experts in sweden, france and germany, confirm he was poisoned by novichok. can you explain to me, steven, president putin says, why can't they provide us with an official report