Much of England is facing tough coronavirus restrictions under the new post-lockdown tier arrangements , with bans on households mixing indoors and curbs on pubs and restaurants.

The majority of the country has been placed in either Tier 2 or Tier 3 after ministers revealed which areas will face the most stringent measures.

In the North East, Newcastle, Gateshead, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland, and County Durham will all be placed under Tier 3 rules from December 2, as will the Tees Valley.

Both of the stricter tiers - which begin when national lockdown ends on December 1 - ban all indoor social gatherings, including in homes or pubs, unless everyone is from the same household or bubble.

And all hospitality venues must shut in Tier 3, while pubs in Tier 2 must shut unless they can operate as a restaurant.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said "these are not easy decisions, but they have been made according to the best clinical advice".

He told MPs: "Thanks to the shared sacrifice of everyone in recent weeks, in following the national restrictions, we have been able to start to bring the virus back under control and slow its growth, easing some of the pressure on the NHS.

"We will do this by returning to a regional tiered approach, saving the toughest measures for the parts of the country where prevalence remains too high."

Below is a full list of which tiers are being implemented where in England, as well as a look at the current restrictions across the rest of the UK.

Tier 1: Medium alert

South East

  • Isle of Wight

South West

  • Cornwall
  • Isles of Scilly

Tier 2: High alert

North West

  • Cumbria
  • Liverpool City Region
  • Warrington and Cheshire

Yorkshire

  • York
  • North Yorkshire

West Midlands

  • Worcestershire
  • Herefordshire
  • Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin

East Midlands

  • Rutland
  • Northamptonshire

East of England

  • Suffolk
  • Hertfordshire
  • Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough
  • Norfolk
  • Essex, Thurrock and Southend on Sea
  • Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes

London

  • all 32 boroughs plus the City of London

South East

  • East Sussex
  • West Sussex
  • Brighton and Hove
  • Surrey
  • Reading
  • Wokingham
  • Bracknell Forest
  • Windsor and Maidenhead
  • West Berkshire
  • Hampshire (except the Isle of Wight), Portsmouth and Southampton
  • Buckinghamshire
  • Oxfordshire

South West

  • South Somerset, Somerset West and Taunton, Mendip and Sedgemoor
  • Bath and North East Somerset
  • Dorset
  • Bournemouth
  • Christchurch
  • Poole
  • Gloucestershire
  • Wiltshire and Swindon
  • Devon

Tier 3: Very High alert

North East

  • Tees Valley Combined Authority:
    • Hartlepool
    • Middlesbrough
    • Stockton-on-Tees
    • Redcar and Cleveland
    • Darlington
  • North East Combined Authority:
    • Sunderland
    • South Tyneside
    • Gateshead
    • Newcastle upon Tyne
    • North Tyneside
    • County Durham
    • Northumberland

North West

  • Greater Manchester
  • Lancashire
  • Blackpool
  • Blackburn with Darwen

Yorkshire and The Humber

  • The Humber
  • West Yorkshire
  • South Yorkshire

West Midlands

  • Birmingham and Black Country
  • Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent
  • Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull

East Midlands

  • Derby and Derbyshire
  • Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
  • Leicester and Leicestershire
  • Lincolnshire

South East

  • Slough (remainder of Berkshire is tier 2: High alert)
  • Kent and Medway

South West

  • Bristol
  • South Gloucestershire
  • North Somerset

Scotland

Scotland's five-tier lockdown system came into effect across the country on November 2.

The local lockdowns range from level 0 to level 4- with restrictions in the highest tier as close to a full lockdown as the country experienced in March.

The restrictions are being reviewed each week, with changes announced on Tuesdays and coming into effect on Fridays.

Here is the current full list of areas in each tier:

Level 0

None

Level 1

  • Moray
  • Highland
  • Orkney Islands
  • Shetland Islands
  • Na h-Eileanan Siar

Level 2

  • Scottish Borders
  • Dumfries & Galloway
  • Aberdeen City
  • Aberdeenshire
  • Argyll & Bute
  • East Lothian
  • Midlothian

Level 3

  • North Ayrshire
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Falkirk
  • Inverclyde
  • City of Edinburgh
  • Dundee City
  • Angus
  • Fife
  • Perth and Kinross

Level 4

  • Glasgow City
  • Renfrewshire
  • East Renfrewshire
  • West Dunbartonshire
  • East Dunbartonshire
  • North Lanarkshire
  • South Lanarkshire
  • South Ayrshire
  • East Ayrshire
  • West Lothian
  • Stirling

Wales

Wales does not currently operate a tier system having already experienced a 17-day fire-break which was deemed a success.

The "short-sharp" lockdown began on October 23 as the whole of Wales was put under stricter measures to slow the spread of coronavirus.

But tougher new measures could be introduced in Wales before Christmas if there fails to be a "significant levelling off or drop" in infection rates.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland will enter a new coronavirus circuit breaker at midnight on Thursday.

The new restrictions will cover the two-week period from November 27 until December 11 and its aim, the Executive says, is to slow the spread of coronavirus in the community and protect the health service.

The lockdown will see the closure of all non-essential retail, restaurants, close-contact services and places of worship, except for small weddings and funerals. Schools will remain open.

Though businesses such as hairdressers and cafes were allowed to reopen from November 20, they will only operate for one week before the latest measures will force them to close once again.