this is bbc news with the latest headlines... 18 million people in england are told to stay at home on the first day of new tier 4 coronavirus restrictions. the new variant is out of control and we need to bring it under control, and this news about the new variant has been an incredibly difficult end to, frankly, an awful year. similar restrictions are introduced across the whole of wales and a three—week lockdown will be imposed in mainland scotland from boxing day. the health secretary labels crowded scenes at london stations last night as "irresponsible" — the transport secretary says extra police officers will be deployed to enforce the rules. the netherlands, italy and belgium ban flights to and from the uk because of concerns about the new coronavirus variant.

# santa claus is coming to town...# and also this hour, santa pays a virtual visit to children in hospital. good afternoon. almost 18 million people are today living in tougher tier 4 restrictions in parts of england because of what the government says is a variant of coronavirus which is spreading rapidly. all previous tier 3 areas in the south east and east of england — including london, kent and most of essex — have moved into tier 4. the public is being asked to stay at home and there will be no "christmas bubbles" for gatherings. get—togethers will be restricted to meeting one other person outside in an open public space.

non—essential shops have closed along with gyms, beauty salons and hairdressers. for those living in tiers 1 to 3 in england, "christmas bubble" gatherings can now only take place on christmas day itself. meanwhile, all of wales is now in lockdown — restrictions only easing for christmas day, and scotland is also only relaxing it's rules on christmas day, with the highest level of restrictions coming into force for the whole country on boxing day. all travel to the rest of the uk is also banned for the festive season. northern ireland has already announced its new national lockdown, from december the 26th. this morning, the health secretary matt hancock said he understood people's frustrations with the change in restrictions but said they were necessary to try and get the new variant of the virus under control. jessica parker reports. st pancras station last

night, hours before new stay—at—home rules came in — scenes the health secretary described as irresponsible. but among all those who didn't board to leave london, a student who had hoped to see family in ireland. it's just been a really challenging year being away from my family. and this was finally a christmas where i could just get some freedom from a year that's just been really difficult. but, obviously, we have to adjust, just like i had to adjust last time, so itjust won't be very easy. ministers say they had to act. the new lockdown for london, parts of east and south east england, known as tier 4, christmas plans cut back across the rest of england as a more infectious variant of the virus spreads. the new variant is out of control and we need to bring it under control, and this news about the new variant has been an incredibly difficult end to, frankly, an awful year. lockdown in wales has been brought forward. the christmas relaxation

rules curbed as they have been in scotland where, across the mainland, tighter restrictions come in on boxing day. northern ireland will keep the relaxation, but was already set for lockdown from the 26th. for england, a suggestion tighter controls could be here for some time. we don't know how long these measures are going to be in place. it may be for some time until we can get the vaccine going. that isn't an easy thing to say. so little looks normal this year. labour has accused the prime minister of waiting until the 11th hour to toughen up the rules. we have a prime minister who is so scared of being unpopular, that he is incapable of taking tough decisions until it's too late. whether that was going into the lockdown in the first place, extending the furlough scheme, bringing in a circuit breaker in october to protect the economy and now christmas. ministers claim they acted quickly following a scientific briefing

on friday afternoon. with days to go, millions of people now have to re—examine their plans and face a very different — in some cases, very difficult — festive season. jessica parker, bbc news. so just how has the coronavirus mutated and why is it now considered more transmissible and requiring many of us to rethink our christmas plans? here's our health correspondentjim reed. that a virus can mutate is no surprise. it's when those mutations change the behaviour of the illness that scientists start to get concerned. the first traces of this new variant of the coronavirus were found in two samples taken in kent and london back in september. it then started to spread rapidly. doctors say they think the change could make the virus spread up to 70% faster. when we find the virus, we are finding the virus in the nose and throat. the higher amount of virus means

that people are likely to be more infectious than they would otherwise be, and this means that we need to reiterate the social distancing measures — keep your distance, reduce your contact. the new variant of coronavirus has 23 genetic changes, some of which are focused around this spike protein on the outside of the virus itself. scientists think that might make it easier to latch onto cells inside the human body. there is no evidence so far that the changes make the disease any more serious or deadly, the researchers are studying hospital patients now to confirm that. a more infectious virus means more people can catch it quickly. that could put pressure on the nhs at a time when the number in hospital with the virus is already nearing the peak of the first wave in april. it might also mean that existing social distancing rules are not tough enough to contain the spread. it's one reason for those tier 4 restrictions in london and the south—east of england.

it's a thousand little decisions every day about what we do. we need to know what our risk is when we go about our day, and we need to take those steps to limit those risks. the virus may be more transmissible with this particular variant, and circulating in certain areas, but there are measures that can reduce the spread. the worry with any change to the structure of a virus is that it might make a vaccine less effective. so far, though, there is no evidence of that in this case. the hope is that a widespread roll—out of the jab will still be enough to put an end to this pandemic. jim reed, bbc news. and at 3.15, we'll be answering your questions on the change in those restrictions and the new variant of coronavirus that's been detected. get in touch with the hashtag #bbcyourquestions — or you can text 61124 —

or you can email yourquestions@bbc. co. uk. with all non—essential shops closing in tier 4, people will be very restricted if they still have shopping to finish for christmas in what would normally be the busiest time of the year. our business correspondent katy austin has more. retailers katy austin has more. see the christmas period is retailers see the christmas period is crucial. they have got the christmas stock in and it is the time of year to make as much money as they can to see them through the quieter period. some were having a pre—christmas nightmare because some stock like poise were getting caught up stock like poise were getting caught up in congestion at ports, causing delays. being in tier 4 is a further nightmare, really. people might want to buy things online, but with time running out before christmas, the question is whether people willjust not make those extra vinyl purchases 01’ not make those extra vinyl purchases or whether they will go and buy everything from supermarkets instead. there is also james and

beauty services, hairdressers. the british beauty council said the news was devastating in the short notice on the busiest day of the year gave little time to cancel appointments 01’ little time to cancel appointments orfurlough little time to cancel appointments or furlough staff. it said further assistance was needed. butchers are reporting a surge in enquiries from people who are changing their business plans, asking to cancel or downsize their orders. katy austin there. the new restrictions announced yesterday prevent people who live in tier 4 areas in england from leaving those areas except for limited reasons including work, education and childcare. the transport secretary, grant shapps, has tweeted saying ‘it‘s vital to follow the new guidance to protect others and our nhs. if you're in tier 4 you must not travel — or stay away from home overnight.‘ he also says that extra british transport police officers will be on hand at railway stations to enforce the rules.

the announcements prompted a rush to london railway stations and by 7 o clock last night, there were no tickets available online from several london stations including paddington, kings cross and euston. this footage posted on social media showed large crowds at st pancras station waiting to board trains to leeds. italy has become the latest country to suspend all flights to and from the uk because of the new variant of coronavirus. earlier, the netherlands became the first country to announce a ban on passengerflights from the uk. flights were stopped as of 6am after the country detected its first case of the variant of coronavirus. belgium is also suspending all flights as well as train arrivals from from midnight tonight. that's 11 o'clock here in the uk. it is also understood that germany are looking at introducing restrictions on air travel.

let's speak to the travel editor at the independent simon calder who joins us live from outside waterloo station in central london. it looks quieter today. it was a bit extra police officers would be on duty to make sure that only people with essential journeys duty to make sure that only people with essentialjourneys are travelling. i am afraid that that train has long departed, literally, from london st pancras to leicester, to derby, sheffield and leeds last night. extraordinary scenes, and people i talk to in the railway industry are very, very upset about it. they say it was an absolutely predictable response. for an awful lot of people, they were given about six hours notice to get onto a train ona six hours notice to get onto a train on a long haul trips that they had planned, perhaps for the next few days. from wednesday onwards, we are supposed to be in the christmas

easing, so we saw thousands of people trying to leave london at once and all of the good work that had gone into place making sure that people had advanced tickets, they we re people had advanced tickets, they were socially distanced on board the train, that has all gone. i am speaking to you from pretty much the absolute centre of tier 4, the rule is that nobody should be making any journeys at all. i have read through the legislation. it doesn't actually say no travel, but it does say don't really leave your house apart from this, there and this reason. mostly to do with work, compassionate reasons and essential shopping. 50 reasons and essential shopping. so the travel restrictions as we know it now, anecdotally, i have had on social media a lot of people trying to get to the eurostar, for example, last night, or the channel tunnel to get out before midnight? yes, and that was all part of the idea that

people had heard what the prime minister said, and they inferred from that we will not be breaking the law if we rush away now. that encouraged all kinds of risky behaviour which clearly was not the government's intention but that was the effect of what happened. and, of course, people will now be mixing. it was an absolute recipe for transmitting this new mutation of coronavirus if you are going to get people packing onto any form of transport like that. it is u nfortu nately transport like that. it is unfortunately going to end very, very badly, ifear. and, of course, people in tiers one, two or three are saying london might be bringing us are saying london might be bringing us infections picked up on the journey, terrible times. the rules coming out from government and all of the organisations including network rail and all of the rail operators is do not travel unless you absolutely have to. we have

heard of italy and the netherlands banning travel to the uk. what about long haul flights? those banning travel to the uk. what about long haulflights? those are coming on as normal, and i think a lot of people will be surprised there is a lot of activity coming into heathrow, luton, manchester, sta nsted and so heathrow, luton, manchester, stansted and so on. gatwick airport is fully open. we are seeing a whole sequence of flight restrictions. it almost reminds me of going back nine months to the middle of march when we had very short notice restrictions. i am we had very short notice restrictions. iam hearing we had very short notice restrictions. i am hearing austria has also banned the uk. france and germany which would be the two most significant european countries along with spain haven't banned flights yet, but there is most definitely discussions going on among the eu nations to decide what to do, and thatis nations to decide what to do, and that is almost certainly going to play out in other parts of the world, particularly the gulf, maybe north america in terms of flights coming in and out of the uk. thank you very much, simon. the numbers of

covid—19 in scotland, there have been 924 cases reported in the last 24 hours. the scottish government says this may be artificially high due to a backlog of data. three bats have been registered of people who tested positive of the virus every 28 days —— three deaths. a ban of scotla nd 28 days —— three deaths. a ban of scotland and the uk over the festive season at... jurgen donaldson lives in in south london, which is of course now in tier 4. he planned to travel to scotland to see his motherfor christmas but of course now can't do that. just explain what your situation is.

thinking for having me. i went blind 18 months ago. i had a brain tumour on the front of my brain pressing on the optic nerve and lost my eyesight, sadly, and came back to london at the start of the year to sort of restart my life, i guess. obviously, we have all gone through the various lockdowns now and have been very much looking forward to having a little bit of normality and heading home for christmas. your mother lives in kirkcaldy. what had you planned for christmas?m mother lives in kirkcaldy. what had you planned for christmas? it was meant to be this morning. my social bubble, my good friends live in a nearby town called crieff back home, we we re nearby town called crieff back home, we were going to drive back together and my mother and i began to spend christmas back home and we had a nice little christmas day planned going to a fantastic local restau ra nt going to a fantastic local restaurant for some food, but it was really about getting that time out

of london and being back home for a while. you understand, though, you agree with the tier 4 restrictions? i think yes. i think we can all see the necessity of it. i think what made it really hard emotionally was on wednesday to hear the prime minister in the house of commons saying to cancel christmas would be inhumane and then saturday rolls around, for days later, and this is where we find ourselves. it kind of felt as though we had all gotten into a place where it felt like it was going to happen and we were getting ready for it, and the rug has been pulled out from under us. but at the same time, i think we all see the necessity to keep each other safe and i don't think any of us could have really dealt with the reality of taking the virus back home to our parents. and this new variant is said to be much more contagious if not more deadly. but you are a cancer contagious if not more deadly. but you are a cancer survivor. contagious if not more deadly. but you are a cancer survivor. i contagious if not more deadly. but you are a cancer survivor. i think your mother is in her seventies? she

isa70, your mother is in her seventies? she is a 70, yes. i was diagnosed with what was thought to be terminal cancer 16 years ago. and i consider myself very lucky to be here now but absolutely still suffer from compromised immune system, so there are increased dangers to me with the virus. so with that and with my mum being close to 70, she will want me to clarify that! she is not 70 until next year. it is a lot of potential problems but i think, with the vaccine being so close by to us now, it doesn't make sense to endanger each other. a very happy christmas to you. it will be a very different christmas to the one you planned. thank you. in wales — the health minister says there could be a spike in coronavirus cases after christmas, even with the tougher restrictions announced yesterday. vaughan gething said the stay—at—home rule was introduced from midnight "partly" as a result

of a new variant of the virus. i'm afraid the new variant is here in wales as well. we had about 6000 welsh positive tests that went to one of the lighthouse labs that can test for this particular variant. 11% of those came back positive for the new variant. and i am afraid that of that, 600—odd cases that tested positive for the new variant, 22% of them were in north wales. we will review the measures after three weeks. i wouldn't anticipate the whole of wales would be coming out of level four after three weeks, but we will have to look at the data. we'll see what happens with the patterns of infection, how we are able to hopefully notjust drive down but to keep on a sustained basis a lower level of infection rates. we also need to take account of the pressure our nhs is under, because we now have over 1500 confirmed

covid cases in our beds here in wales. that is actually where the reasonable worst—case scenario was saying we could get by christmas day, so we have reached that 6 days early, and that really does show the pressure we are under. 0ur normal critical care capacity is over one third of what it would normally be. and that means we have to close other parts of our nhs to be able to redeploy staff to deal with that very real demand. we are seeing our death rates going the wrong way as well. so this is a very real point of crisis that requires action. notjust from the government and our national health service, but each of us has a role to play in helping to turn back the tide of coronavirus. amid extra restrictions imposed across the country this christmas, for many terminally or chronically ill children and their families, the festive season will be even more difficult. unable to do their usual hospital visits to sick children, this year the charity spread a smile have moved their christmas grotto experience entirely online. let's discuss this further with lucy jackson who's

the chief executive of the charity spread a smile. and i'm alsojoined by donna hillyer who's son austin was born with kidney failure — and has been helped by the charity. and twin sister annabel as well. lucy, i will start with you because i hadn't actually heard about smile tv. at spread a smile we take our teams of the various magicians, therapy dogs, face painters, to hospitalfor regular therapy dogs, face painters, to hospital for regular visits. therapy dogs, face painters, to hospitalfor regular visits. in march, we had to stop all of our face to face visits, and now we are doing everything online, everything virtually. it is so important for us to do that at the moment because these children are more isolated than ever before, so we think it is

so important to keep spreading smiles to them. ordinarily, when there are physical visits, this is hugely important for children's morale and can even help them recover more quickly in terms of the boost it gives. exactly. we conducted our own research recently and we found that our visits helped to reduce a child's anxiety, could help to enhance their psychological well—being. you ask any parent who has sat hour by hour at their child's bedside and they will tell you the enormous impact that one of those visits from our entertainers can have. suddenly, the child is sitting up and they are smiling and laughing and talking, perhaps that is something the parent wouldn't see in their child, it is quite incredible. tim, donna, austin and annabel, thank you forjoining us. you have seen for the christmas, is

that right? is that right, austin? yes. and how is he? before coronavirus, we went to the north pole this year. and the north pole is allowing father christmas to go and pick up presence, so there are no travel restrictions for him, which is great! tell us more about austin's last year or so, because he has been really rather ill, hasn't he? we have had a very challenging year this year, but spread a smile charity has been a great support for us charity has been a great support for us since austin's transplant back in july. they have helped us stay connected as a family, donna and austin were down at great 0rmond street hospital weeks well annabel and myself are at home not able to visit austin because of travel

restrictions. they have really helped the children in their emotional recovery, and austin was getting better after the transplant through putting on events like arts and crafts, magician shows, and obviously, most importantly, meeting father christmas on friday. that has really helped austin and annabel deal with a really challenging year. annabel, i think you are austin's twin, archiewhat have you seen on smile tv? what entertainment did you like's i liked the arts and crafts and the fairies. what was the art and craft ones you liked? it was drawing, wasn't it? it was the halloween one.

that sounds really good. lucy, are you using the same people as before, you using the same people as before, you haven't had to lay them off? presumably they are freelancers if they are entertainers? they are freelancers. we have got the most wonderful team of entertainers who we train thoroughly to go in and do these visits. it is great that they have been able to continue entertaining these children in hospital. and what is really amazing is that they have a short time to make an impact on these children but the impact is felt at that moment and then beyond as well. the children have something to talk about, something to be excited about. as you were just hearing from austin and annabel, it is notjust about a child who is unwell, it is about a child who is unwell, it is about bringing in the family as well. donna, you were in isolation

with austin. how is it for you? spread a smile has had a huge impact, notjust on austin and his recovery but on us as a family. austin was supposed to have his transplant in april but it was cancelled. it was one of the last one is cancelled when a lockdown came into place. by the time his transplant actually came around, the entire family will already very exhausted, so to have them come on—board at that time really helped us on—board at that time really helped us collectively and also just in terms of entertaining a child who is struggling with recovery in one room with no help from family or friends is challenging, and just having something light—hearted was really grates. another thing to mention is i think the emotional recovery for austin after the transplant was far

greater, i would say, than his physical recovery, so spread a smile being on—board and working with him through his various stages of emotional needs was fantastic. and the entertainers, they are all specially trained so that when he was finding it to engage initially, because of the inevitable kind of trauma after such a big operation, they just were able to really work around those challenges and get the most from him. it has been amazing to watch him blossom over the past five months. he has recently returned to school for the first time since march so it has been a really long period of time he has been cut off from his friends. the charity's involvement has had a huge impact, i think, charity's involvement has had a huge impact, ithink, socially, getting him ready for that return, and it

has been brilliant just him ready for that return, and it has been brilliantjust to see him getting on so well. and certainly the grotto was fantastic. we normally have a very busy experience, we go and visit family, obviously that is all out this year, but it was amazing having that virtual experience, it was some normality for the children. just a final thought. austin and annabel, just ina final thought. austin and annabel, just in a few words, how excited are you about christmas day? really, really excited. and you, annabel? i'm really happy. let's hope father christmas brings just a a few things that you have asked him for. well done and happy christmas to you, and also to lucy jackson, done and happy christmas to you, and also to luchackson, the done and happy christmas to you, and also to lucy jackson, the ceo done and happy christmas to you, and also to luchackson, the ceo of smile tv.

let's catch up with some weather. 0ur attention now turns to this rather large lump of cloud just to the south—west of us. this is the next area of low pressure on the way. next area of low pressure on the by next area of low pressure on the way. by this evening and overnight, showers continue so winds will pick up showers continue so winds will pick up as well. later on, we have strengthening winds across the south—west with cloud and rain arriving. it will be turning milder with temperatures about 11 degrees in plymouth, nine in cardiff as we start off monday morning. monday, it will be a wet start to the day for much of england and wales. could see some localised surface water flooding given that the ground is saturated. we have further pulses of rain to come in western scotland. miles across england and wales with temperatures at 15 degrees in

london. turning colderfor temperatures at 15 degrees in london. turning colder for scotland, northern ireland, northern england. temperatures about six or seven. hello, you're watching bbc news. it is 2:30pm. 18 million people in england are told to stay at home on the first day of new tier for coronavirus restrictions. similar restrictions are introduced across the whole of wales, and a three week lockdown will be imposed on mainland scotla nd lockdown will be imposed on mainland scotland from boxing day. the health secretary labels credit scenes at london stations last night as irresponsible. the transport secretary says extra police officers will be deployed to enforce the rules. the netherlands, italy and belgium ban flights to and from the uk because of concerns about the new variant. more from me at the top of the hour.