The measures were announced as ministers revealed that a new variant of the virus has been seen in the UK, but experts say they believe the new vaccine is effective against it.

So we have Greater London on.

We have parts of the counties of Essex.

Aunt Heart Future to be placed in Tier three from Wednesday Facing the most severe restrictions, there could be no socializing indoors with anyone other than the people you live with.

All those in your support bubble bars, pubs and restaurants will have to close, though they can provide takeaways on deliveries.

But shops, gyms and hairdressers will be able to stay open.

Our health editor, Hugh Pin, has more details.

Mhm, mhm.

The run up to Christmas just won't feel the same.

Across a swathe of southeast England with new restrictions on meeting members of other households outdoors, those shops will remain open.

The move to tier three is response to a steep rise in virus cases in London, Ont.

Parts of Essex and Hard Future.

And that's putting more pressure on hospitals.

Cases were moving up anyway, though the health secretary told the Commons of a new development.

We have identified a new variant of Corona virus, which may be associated with the fast to spread in the southeast of England.

Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants.

We've currently identified over 1000 cases with this variant, predominantly in the south of England.

Hey said there was nothing to suggest the new variant made people sicker or that it was resistant to vaccines.

Labor said the picture around England was now less encouraging, but overall the increasing areas are rising faster than the decreasing areas are falling.

Ondas things stand.

We are heading into the Christmas easing with diminishing headroom.

The buffer zone these tears was supposed to provide is getting much thinner off the top 20 virus hot spots in England.

All but two are in the southeast, for example, the London boroughs of Hey veering Enfield and Suffolk with case increases of more than 50% in the most recent week on Brentwood and Thorough Kin, Essex, even Mawr around 80%.

The pressure rise in cases, officials said, could put the NHS under great strain on this will lead inexorably.

Not only Thio Kovar deaths directly, but it also leads importantly to displacing other health activity.

That means that other diseases are not being treated if we do not get on top of this quickly.

The health argument for tighter restrictions has been made on the basis of sharply rising case numbers.

But there is, of course, an economic impact.

Tier three means bars, pubs and restaurants having to close to customers apart from takeaways and deliveries.

And it should have bean their busiest time of the year, especially in London.

This restaurant only reopened recently after the lock down.

Now they'll have to stop serving customers indoors again, And it's not clear how much government funding will be available.

Like it is a joke well open one week ago.

We close down this weekend.

Game on doesn't work in like that.

I'm sure if he's going to like that, we are all going to close down.

We will find a different job.

There's been no change to the planned relax ation of the rules over Christmas around the UK, though, Scotland's first minister made a plea for people to be cautious.

Just because we can visit people indoors over Christmas on a limited basis doesn't mean that we have to.

Any endure meeting between different households obviously creates a risk.

The violence will not take a break over the Christmas period.

Local leaders in Manchester and some other areas of England, which have bean at the highest alert level for some time, are hoping to be moved down because of falling case numbers.

But in Wales, with hospital said to be nearly full, there have been calls from some NHS staff for a pre Christmas locked down.

Hugh Pym.

BBC News Well, the education secretary for England has issued a legal order demanding that Greenwich Council in London withdraw its advice to schools to close from tomorrow.

Gavin Williamson said that using his legal powers was the last resort on continuity of education.

Waas, in his words, a national priority.

Greenwich, along with Islington and Waltham Forest, have urged tools to move people's toe online.

Learning to help tackle a rise in coronavirus.

Infections are education, that is, to Brandon Jeffries has more details.

Arriving for what could be their last day, parents told schools were being advised to move online, leaving them facing a sudden childcare crisis.

It's just too short notice to get any sort of childcare arrangements in place.

So you do will be taking the day off unpaid, coming up to Christmas.

It's just just not doable.

They have to do what they have to do.

It's a shame, though, that things have been left till the last minute.

This is something that should have been done ages ago.

Schools in Greenwich are the first to get this advice from their counsel, but ministers insist schools must stay open.

Schools have found themselves caught up in a political battle, and in the end they have to make their own decisions.

So this primary school has told parents that learning will move online from the end of today.

But some secondary schools, who are academies and have much more freedom from the local authority, have told parents they will be staying open until the end of term.

A testing center, London's mayor warned of rising cases calling for all secondary schools to shift to remote learning.

If you can't keep these schools covert safe in the last few days before Christmas, it's better to err on the side of caution on Revert.

Online teaching for these few days make the school's Kobe secure over Christmas, so in January they can reopen.

Another Labor London council told schools to move online, Islington said.

That should continue for a week in January.

Tonight, in a dramatic intervention, this legal order was issued by the government.

Greenwich Council was directed to withdraw letters to parents and head teachers.

Send a government letter telling schools to stay open.

The government says it would enforce this in court.

Greenwich Council will respond in the morning areas that you have picked up my very different.

In Wales, where classroom teaching ended last week, rapid testing promised there in schools in the new year.

But one union leader told me in England, schools were caught between ministers, councils and parents teachers in their teams.

They're caught between a rock and a hard place.

Parents are voting with their feet and we're having decreasing numbers of students in school anyway, and that means that there's a toxic mix of problems for head teachers to deal with our schools slogged through the last week of term a political on bleed Gle battle over who decides if they stay fully open?

Brown with Jeffries BBC News Let's talk a little more about today's developments.

In a moment, we'll be done to Westminster and talking to Vicky Young, our deputy political editor.

First, humans with me.

Who?

PMR Health editor 11 days to Christmas.

Millions of people in England now facing much higher restrictions.

What are the factors at work here?

We're here first of all, this new variant we heard about today.

Now viruses do mutate.

This one's no different.

We saw a new variant in Spain in October, which pushed infections up around Europe on the health sector, I think conceded it may or may not have had an impact in the southeast of England in recent weeks.

I suspect London and parts of Essex and Heart Butcher would have gone on to tier three anyway, because there is deep concern about the increase in cases in that region.

Matt Hancock, only at the end of last week, said it would be Wednesday this week when he looked at all tiers in all regions of England, including London.

They've had to bring it forward today because of what they see as a pivotal moment because of the sharp increase in cases.

It's an attempt to try to curb the spread of the virus ahead of the opening up over Christmas.

Now, today we've heard in varying degrees rhetoric from political leaders and health officials showing MAWR caution about Christmas, saying people have to be really careful before meeting up with households.

They really don't have to if they don't feel it's completely necessary, because there is a worry that opening up will increase cases on.

That will put yet more pressure on the NHS at the busiest time in January on some London council leaders have said today, Tier three isn't enough.

They wanted to go to a Tier three plus with even tighter restrictions to try to get a grip on things humanly.

Thanks again, Hugh Pym for us there and let's stay with a Christmas theme and joined Vicky Donor Westminster there just just a short while ago, Vicky, we were talking about ah joint approach by the whole nations to Christmas and the Christmas period.

But of course the situation is changing as we've been reporting.

So how much of a political risk is there around this decision now?

Well, I think listening to politicians from all four nations, you can hear their anxiety, can't you coming through pretty loud on clear and quite off from what we're hearing is what sounds like a contradictory message.

On the one hand, of course, they're pointing to in some areas what are still quite alarming rises pressure on the NHS on.

Yet in just over a week, millions of people are going to be allowed to travel across the UK on mix.

Now, there are some MPs here in Westminster urging governments to think again about all of this.

I don't get any sense that that is happening, but I do think what they're doing is urging us to think twice on the words you're going to hear between now and Christmas.

Is personal responsibility saying to people, Please focus on the risks.

Just because you're being allowed to do it is pretty clear listening to the politicians everywhere, isn't it?

Actually, they're discouraging it.

They're saying to people think very carefully about who you're going to meet on whether they are vulnerable.

So before we even get to any Christmas celebrations the politicians, the doctors, the scientists, they all seem to be worrying about what's to come in January and February.

And, of course, the possibility of restrictions that might have to be with us for many more weeks.

Vicky.

Many thanks again for Young, the force with the latest of Westminster onto huge him with me here in the studio Health Editor.