UK

The government must impose a national lockdown within 24 hours, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said. Sir Keir said the virus is “clearly out of control” and national restrictions have to be “the first step”. He said: “It’s no good the prime minister hinting that further restrictions are coming into place in a week

Hundreds of new vaccination sites are expected to be up and running this week as the NHS expands its coronavirus immunisation programme. Some 530,000 doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine will be available across the UK from Monday. At first, only a small number of hospital will distribute the vaccine but after a few days,

Public Health England (PHE) has said it does not recommend mixing COVID-19 vaccines from different suppliers. The warning comes as distribution of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is due to start in the UK next week, the second roll-out following the launch of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in December, with both requiring two doses. On New Year’s Eve,

A coroner in Malaysia has ruled the death of British teenager Nora Quoirin was most likely a misadventure that did not involve other people. The 15-year-old from Balham, southwest London, vanished from a hotel in August 2019. Rescue teams searched for 10 days before her body was found by a stream just over a mile

Boris Johnson is facing calls to close every school in England after an embarrassing government U-turn which means all primary schools in London will remain shut next week. A union leader claimed what was right for London was right for the rest of the country and called on ministers to “do their duty” and close

Police have broken up scores of parties across England and issued hundreds of fines as people ignored orders to stay in and celebrate New Year at home. Gatherings were broken up from Lancashire to Brighton, while in one Essex COVID hotspot officers had objects thrown at them at a large party in a disused church.

The UK has welcomed in 2021, saying goodbye to a year that for many was the strangest, toughest or even worst in recent memory. It was ushered in by the chimes of Big Ben – an hour after the nation’s clock marked the end of the Brexit transition period – without any of the thousands

Nightingale hospitals across England are being “readied” for use if needed as COVID-19 patient numbers rise. The NHS in London has been asked to make sure the Excel centre site is “reactivated and ready to admit patients” as hospitals in the capital struggle. Other Nightingale hospital sites across England include Manchester, Bristol, Sunderland, Harrogate, Exeter

A further 20 million people are under tighter restrictions after the government announced an extension of Tier 4 rules in England in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. On the day the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was approved to tackle COVID-19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a new strain of the virus was “surging across

The toughest coronavirus restrictions could be expanded to more areas in England, as daily recorded cases continue to surge and hospitals report record numbers of patients being treated for the virus. Possible changes to COVID-19 tier areas were discussed as Prime Minister Boris Johnson chaired a meeting of ministers on Tuesday. Sky News understands that

Fresh warnings for snow and ice today and later this week have been issued by weather forecasters as the cold snap is expected to continue into 2021. Up to 15cm (six inches) of snow could fall in some areas, including southern England, on Wednesday and early on New Year’s Eve. It comes as drivers were

The military is being called in to help secondary schools and colleges with coronavirus testing at the start of the spring term. Some 1,500 personnel will give planning support, training and phone advice to English schools needing help with the testing process and setting up facilities. The government is pressing ahead with plans for primary

A medical expert has claimed that if the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca was rolled out “24/7” it could cut the time taken to immunise a large part of the UK population by half – from 50 weeks to 25 weeks. The jab, which unlike the Pfizer one does not have to be

Snow and ice warnings are in place for much of the UK heading into the bank holiday, including as far south as London, as vast swathes of the country are braced for a cold snap in the aftermath of Storm Bella. It comes as around 100 flood warnings remain in force in England, along with

The pharmaceutical boss behind the Oxford vaccine says researchers have found a “winning formula” to improve the jab’s efficacy. Trials of the vaccine, developed by the university along with AstraZeneca, showed an efficacy rate of 90% when people were given half a dose followed by a whole dose at least a month later. When two

Freight drivers waiting to cross into France have been told they can head back to Dover instead of waiting in an overflow lorry park. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that by 9am on Boxing Day, all hauliers had left Manston airfield – the site used to manage disruption in Kent caused by France’s travel and