tonight at ten... england enters another period of national lockdown,

enforced bylaw with people ordered to stay at home. it will be imposed from the early hours of wednesday morning. the prime minister said the surging pandemic made it essential, but he said there was hope with the new vaccines. the weeks ahead will be the hardest yet. but i really do believe that we are entering the last phase of the struggle, because with everyjab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against covid. all schools in england will be closed to most pupils until after the february half—term at the earliest. in scotland — people are also ordered to stay at home and schools will remain closed to pupils until the 1st of february at the earliest. we are now seeing a steeply rising trend of infections. indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that i am more concerned about the situation we face now than i have been at any time since march last year.

these are decisions politicians wanted to avoid, but the virus has outpaced their efforts to keep up with it so scotland and england's doors will close again. more from laura in second. the latest measures were agreed on following reports that the nhs would be overwhelmed if tougher action wasn't taken now. experts say hospitals in many areas are now under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. we report from south africa, where scientists say there is "reasonable concern" that a new variant of covid—i9 might be more resistant to current vaccines. but there's still huge relief that the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine has started its rollout today, with a plan to vaccinate at least ten million people by mid—february. and coming up in sport on bbc news, after southampton took an early lead against liverpool, could the premier league leaders come back to get a result at st mary's?

good evening. borisjohnson has announced that england will once again enter a period of lockdown tonight, to be enforced by law, from the early hours of wednesday morning. in a televised address from downing street, the prime minister said he believed this was a pivotal moment in the fight against the pandemic, and that the weeks ahead would be the hardest yet. england has nowjoined scotland, wales and northern ireland in implementing tougher new restrictions, faced with a surging number of new cases. mrjohnson said that people living in england should stay at home, and could only leave for exceptional reasons. those include shopping for essential items, and going to work where people can't work from home. like in the previous lockdowns, outdoor exercise is allowed. those who are extremely clinically vulnerable, are being asked to shield again. all schools in england will be

closed to most pupils, with online learning, until after the february half term at the earliest. and most gcse and a—level exams are not likely to go ahead in england this year. but on a day of unrelenting gloom, there is a nontheless significant cause for hope. the oxford astrazeneca vaccine has started its roll—out today, following pfizer last month, with a plan to vaccinate at least ten million people by mid—february. more on the vaccine in a moment, but first our political editor laura kuenssberg on the day's events. since on the day's events. the pandemic began last year the since the pandemic began last year, the whole united kingdom has been engaged in a great national effort to fight covid... engaged in a great national effort to fight covid. .. and effort that is not over, not even close, as downing street pointed the finger of blame at the new variant spreading fast. asi

at the new variant spreading fast. as i speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. with most of the country already under extreme measures, it is clear that we need to do more. that means the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. that includes children, who he said should go to school just this children, who he said should go to schooljust this morning. at kitchen ta bles schooljust this morning. at kitchen tables or shared sofas become offices and classrooms again. primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across england must move to remote provision from tomorrow, except for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. this might feel agonisingly familiar, but there is one big difference. we are now rolling out the biggest vaccination programme in oui’ the biggest vaccination programme in our history. by the middle of february, if things go well, and with a fair wind in our sales, we expect to have offered the first vaccine dose to everyone in the four

top priority groups. nearly 14 million offers plan to the most vulnerable and most elderly. the doors could be unlocked in about six weeks, but there is a list of big ifs. if the roll-out of the vaccine programme continues to be successful, if deaths start to fall as the vaccine takes effect, and critically, if everyone plays their pa rt by critically, if everyone plays their part by following the rules then i hope we can steadily move out of lockdown, reopening schools after the february half term and starting cautiously to move regions down the tier system. i want to say to eve ryo ne tier system. i want to say to everyone right across the uk, that i know how tough this is. but now, more than ever, we must pull together. the weeks ahead will be the hardest yet, but i really do believe that we are entering the last phase of the struggle because with every jab last phase of the struggle because with everyjab that goes into our

arms, we are tilting the odds against covid and in favour of the british people. so with the force of the law, most of life will retreat again behind closed doors. chairs and tables, empty streets. silent dinner holes, corridors falling quiet in every corner of the uk. dinner holes, corridors falling quiet in every corner of the uki know the next few weeks will be incredibly difficult. i am sorry to ask forfurther incredibly difficult. i am sorry to ask for further sacrifices after nine long months of them, but the sacrifices are necessary. these are decisions that politicians never wa nted decisions that politicians never wanted to have to take it again, but choices they have made because beds, wards and hospitals are filling in a way that could threaten all kinds of care. we cannot keep going in this direction or our national health service will full over, it will not be able to cope with what is going on andi be able to cope with what is going on and i am quite sure our community does not want to be in that situation. the measures for england

will come into law in the early hours of wednesday. mps will have a vote after that, but there is unlikely to be much resistance. these measures are necessary, sadly and therefore we support the package of measures the prime minister has just outlined. and i think whatever criticisms and challenges of the government, we have all got to pull together now to make this work. good morning everybody. this time, the hope of a needle in millions of arms provides the way out of all of this, but the lockdown we will live through first is far from being a quick sting. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. as we've just heard, all schools in england will close to most pupils from tomorrow until the february half term and summer exams will mostly be cancelled. our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. some schools did not reopen today — staff too worried about the new variant of covid. tonight, the prime minister

accepting the virus spreads in schools. and i want to stress that the problem is not that schools are unsafe for children. children are still very unlikely to be severely affected by even the new variant of covid. the problem is that schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread between households. for secondary schools and teenagers, another massive u—turn. gcses and a—levels will be cancelled. emily, due to sit seven gcses, and her mum nicola were stunned. i was just really shocked and really upset. i feel like i've done so much work. the gcses have been like my whole entire goal for two whole years. i don't know how the teachers are going to... i don't know what evidence they've got and what the plan is. there is nothing, you know,

there was a statement and then nothing else. so we feel like the rug has been pulled out from under us a little bit now. for children just reunited with friends, now more remote learning at home. education unions say it's the right decision made late. we've thrown together thousands and thousands of families today for a day and exposed them to that risk of infection, and whether that was necessary or not, it is now called into question. what the government has really got to do is work with the profession. we can see things happening on the ground before it comes through in datasets. this primary school in warrington was open today. they are ready to stream lessons online but say that's a challenge for many families. children find it very difficult to access the live—streaming lessons that we offer online. our online offer is a very strong and robust offer, but it doesn't mean that all our children will be able to access it, because they don't have enough devices or they don't

have the internet capacity. a primary teacher, owen is at home recovering from covid. a pupil tested positive at the end of last term. by the new year, owen was in hospital. he says the prime minister had to act. i was pretty scared at some points, especially when i looked around the ward, i was in this acute ward for... i think we've got to get a lid on it, and as quickly and as we can, before we really start opening schools and things back up again properly and fully. everything has changed for them this year. now it's changing again. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. our political editor laura kuenssberg is in westminster. across the uk, a much tougher approach. let's put two day's events into the

context of action now being taken in all four nations of the uk? yes, politicians in all forms four corners of the uk wanted to avoid. this is something politicians were very reluctant to do. but strong state m e nts very reluctant to do. but strong statements publicly and a pretty strong push privately from all of the chief medical officers across the chief medical officers across the country, basically left politicians that they had no choice but to take more of our choices away from us and to once again say that the country has to stay at home. you can see from the numbers and statistics we have been hearing about, how this new strain of coronavirus hasn't just about, how this new strain of coronavirus hasn'tjust gone up gradually on a graph, or in a strong curve, it has almost gone up in a straight line, defying the kind of expectation anybody might have had of it and the knock—on effect on the health service is there for all to see. politicians have come to this place reluctantly, but they have

felt they have had no option but to ta ke felt they have had no option but to take this. the borisjohnson‘s critics will see this as more evidence of him only wanting to make decisions at the last minute, being caught behind the curve rather than being out in front of the pandemic. even his supporters would acknowledge he is more comfortable being the deliverer of good news, rather than wanting to confront things that are bad and difficult to hearin things that are bad and difficult to hear in public. but while covid is at the forefront of politicians' mines, the impacts that come along with another lockdown like this, pressure on the economy, the pressure on the economy, the pressure of kids being out of school and pressures on other kinds of healthy on the pandemic are very, very serious. these decisions are not ones that have been easy to take for any of not ones that have been easy to take forany of our not ones that have been easy to take for any of our leaders. laura, thanks once again. laura kuenssberg with the latest from westminster. from midnight tonight, scotland is introducing a new lockdown similar to the one imposed back in march at the start of the pandemic. on the mainland, it will be a legal

requirement to stay at home for all of january for anything other than essential purposes and people must work from home if possible. people will be able to meet only one other person outdoors from another household but that doesn't include children aged 11 and under. across the whole of scotland, schools will be closed and provide online learning only until at least the 1st of february. the first minister nicola sturgeon says she is more concerned about the situation now than at any other time since march. our scotland correspondent james cook is in glasgow for us tonight. scientists reckon that scotland is perhaps a month behind london in terms of this latest wave of the virus. but the situation is still serious. to give you an example, nhs ayrshire and arran is said to be running at 96% of its covid capacity. that is why these restrictions are coming in now and

thatis restrictions are coming in now and that is why there is a new lockdown and what is beginning to look like a pretty bleak midwinter. new year, new lockdown to tackle a new variant of the virus. it's a public holiday here, the streets should be packed with shoppers. instead, mainland scotland is heading for even tighter restrictions. it is no exaggeration to say that i am more concerned about the situation we face now than i have been at any time since march last year. ourfundamental advice for everyone is to stay at home. that is the single best way of staying safe. we consider that this stay at home message and advice is now so important that from tomorrow, it will become lawjust as it was in the lockdown last year. without action, said the first minister, the nhs could be overwhelmed in weeks, a concern echoed by her rivals. the increase in infection rate and the tra nsmissibility of the new variant gives grave

cause for concern. we have come too far to throw all the efforts away, and the roll—out of the vaccine means that we can see a time soon and all this means that for most pupils in scottish schools and nurseries, the holidays will go on and on. the schools are going to be closed until 1st february, at least in scotland. what is your reaction to that? devastated. i'm due to go back to work on thursday, and i've just had about 20 months off, so i'm just going back to work, and i've got a one—year—old and four—year—old. i'm sad because i don't get to see my friends sometimes, and because i like to going to school, to do, like, work and stuff, and see my friends and play with them. so this has been a difficult day for parents, a difficult day for a lot of people in scotland, and in some ways feels like we are going backwards all the way to the lockdown of last spring, but this time

there is a difference, there is some cause for hope. that hope comes in a bottle. but who should get the vaccine first? one former scottish labour leader and teacher says school staff should be prioritised. we need the four governments of the united kingdom to get together and decide once and for all, for this pandemic and for any future emergencies, that schools are critical infrastructure, that children need to learn, they need to be in organised learning environments and we need solutions that keep that happening, and not the sort of panic measures we see today. the scottish government denies panicking, but ministers do want people to heed their warning. that right now the whole nation is on thin ice. james cook, bbc news, glasgow. in a moment, we'll be speaking to emma vardy, who's outside stormont in northern ireland, but first our correspondent hywel griffith is at the senedd in cardiff.

white hywel, just take us through the measures that are being enforced in wales and how they compare with what it is across the border in england. yes, well, wales has been ina england. yes, well, wales has been in a national lockdown for the last two weeks, the instruction to stay at home has been in force since december the 20th, so nonessential retail closed over the christmas period, and although there is a review of all of that at the end of this week, we have been told they measures are likely to stay in place until the end of january. measures are likely to stay in place until the end ofjanuary. but measures are likely to stay in place until the end of january. but new measures are being brought in. this evening the welsh government has pushed back school closures, so no face—to—face learning in schools or colleges until at least january the 18th. that means going back to school earlier than england or scotland, but it may be that data is pushed back once again. we should

say case numbers are improving in wales, but they are still 450 per 100,000, very high, and the pressure on the front line is extreme — more covid patients now than at any time last year. emma vardy, the picture in northern ireland tonight? well, look, the stormont executive held a emergency meeting tonight because the situation here has been escalating rapidly, and the executive issued a statement this evening. we are already in the second week of a six week lockdown, but they say there will be an extended period of online learning at schools, so lots of people here who were due to return to the classroom next week, well, they will not now be in future. political leaders said that was reg retta ble political leaders said that was regrettable but that is the situation they are faced with. also discussion today around the issue of compliance, lots of concern that people were not following the rules

over the christmas period, and we know the psni had to shut down around 100 house parties injust a week, and we heard from the deputy first minister, michelle o'neill, calling for people to take a renewed sense of seriousness to the rules, asking people to approach this in the same way as they did back in march, when this was all new, and we are likely to see the stay at home rule in northern ireland to put back into regulation so it will be more legally enforceable. emma vardy at stormont, thank you, hywel griffith in cardiff, thank you. the first doses of the new oxford—astrazeneca vaccine have been administered. hundreds of vaccination sites are expected to open this week, with over 500,000 doses of the jab already delivered to the nhs. our medical editor, fergus walsh, has more. and just a warning — his report contains some flashing images. another key moment in the fightback against coronavirus. 82—year—old brian pinker became the first person in the world to receive the oxford—astrazeneca

vaccine since it was approved. he has dialysis three times a week and so is clinically vulnerable. the vaccine means everything to me. to my mind, it's the only way of getting back to a bit of normal life. this virus is terrible, isn't it? it was here in oxford that this vaccine was created and where trials began in april last year — so fitting that it should be one of six hospital trusts in england to begin administering the injection. it was a huge privilege. every single patient that we vaccinated over the last couple of weeks have got their own personal stories to the difference it's going to make for them. so no different this morning with our first two patients. the queue to receive the vaccine is already forming here. there is huge public interest in the rollout out of this vaccine. the government has ordered 100 million doses. the key question, though,

is how quickly can the priority groups be immunised? there are 31 million people in those priority groups. top of the list are care—home residents and workers. the aim is to have immunised all of them by the end of the month. the over—80s and front—line health workers are also in the first wave. then in descending age groups from 75—plus down to the over—50s. other key groups are clinically extremely vulnerable people and those with underlying health conditions. we've already delivered over a million vaccines of the pfizerjab, now we've got the astrazeneca one. so we aim to get it into people's arms as quickly as it is supplied to us. if we get 2 million doses a week, our aim is to get 2 million doses into the arms of those priority groups. also among the first to be immunised was the doctor who led global trials of the oxford jab.

he emphasised the importance of mass vaccination. fantastic getting it myself. anyone who is eligible and offered the vaccine, whichever one it is, needs to come forward and be vaccinated because we have to have the massive rollout ahead of us over the next few months and we need speed to do that. the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine can be stored in a fridge. a key advantage over the pfizer vaccine, which has to be transported at minus 70. it will also play a key role in the global immunisation. three billion doses are set to be distributed worldwide this year. our medical editor, fergus walsh, joins me now. i suppose the big question, fergus, what is the timetable for vaccination, how many people in what kind of time? there are 31 million people, huw, in the vaccine priority groups, and the government have said

tonight that it intends to offer a first dose tonight that it intends to offer a first do: still an extremely but it is still an extremely ambitious target, 2 million people a week for the next six weeks. now, everything will have to go really smoothly, because each batch of the vaccine, with pfizer or the astrazeneca oxford vaccine, has to pass quality controls, they should be 1000 vaccination centres set up across the uk by the end of the week. now, boris johnson across the uk by the end of the week. now, borisjohnson has said tonight that the uk has carried out more covid immunisation than the rest of europe put together, but it now gives a target against which the government's immunisation programme can bejudged government's immunisation programme can be judged in government's immunisation programme can bejudged in the

government's immunisation programme can be judged in the weeks ahead. and all those people will eventually need a second dose after 12 weeks. now, made some very sombre news tonight, it is at least a bright point, and it is a vaccination that ultimately will be the route out of this pandemic. fergus, once again, many thanks. fergus walsh, our medical editor. the latest government figures show there were 58,784 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is now 54,833. 407 deaths were reported, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test, but today's figures don't include scotland and are usually lower after the weekend. that means on average in the past week 611 deaths were announced every day. it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 75,431. as we've heard, the covid threat is to be raised to the

highest level five across the uk, following a warning from all four chief medical officers that the health services are at risk of being overwhelmed within three weeks. with coronavirus cases continuing to rise rapidly, driven by the new variant of the virus, the number of covid—19 patients in hospitals across the uk is also increasing sharply. our health editor, hugh pym, has the latest. on the front line of a major london hospital today. here at st george's, staff say it's exceptionally busy after a big increase in admissions of covid patients. over the weekend, they've been struck by the number requiring oxygen support, and that's meant doubling capacity for oxygen supplies, which is no easy matter. we have had several whole families admitted. quite a lot of those people haven't been older people, they haven't been people with lots of medical problems. they have been young and fit people who have been themselves shocked at how unwell they've got and how quickly they've become unwell. annabel‘s whole family

was struck by the virus. she and her mother maria were struggling to breathe and were admitted to leicester royal infirmary. they were brought together in intensive care, but less than 24 hours later, maria died. it's literally just tore my family into tiny pieces. i understand everyone's situation is different, and we are at different points in our lives. butjust to take a moment, to put yourself in my shoes, and if that would make you perhaps rethink what you're going to do that day. london hospitals are under extreme pressure, and it's the same in other areas of southern england. in the south east, total covid patient numbers in hospitals are now well above where they were at the peak last april. and it's a similar story in the east of england, with patient numbers rising rapidly in recent weeks. the chief executive of the countess

of chester hospital said 40% of beds were occupied by covid patients and stressed there was a problem affecting more areas than just london. community leaders in cumbria, meanwhile, warned that the situation was getting worse. it's extremely serious. the risk to the hospitals in the north is quite severe at the moment. they have more coronavirus patients in the hospitals than they have ever had. in some parts of london, virus cases as a proportion of the population have gone up by 25% in a week. that's why hospitals like this are under mounting pressure — and at a time when there are higher levels of staff sickness and those needing to self—isolate. things could get even tougher in the weeks ahead. hugh pym, bbc news. all of england is now in tier 4. danny savage is in leeds, which has been moved from tier 3 to tier 4. danny, what's the picture

across northern england tonight? what can you tell us? huw, leeds and the wider yorkshire and humber area are in tier3 the wider yorkshire and humber area are in tier 3 at the moment, but it feels as though lockdown has already begun. we are just across the road from the main bus station, services have been coming and going, we haven't seen a single passenger on any one of them. it is less than a week since large parts of northern england were down in tier 2, places like north yorkshire and cumbria, and in cumbria the infection rate has taken off over the last week or so. two of the three main hospitals on the highest state of alert. the director of public health called for primary schools not to open, but 24 hours later. the latest figures for northern england look pretty dire, to be honest. they have been

analysed this evening, and