Covid-19: What is the new tier system England will enter when lockdown ends?
UPDATE: The government has announced the list of tiers for each area of England after lockdown. You can check which tier your area is in here.New tiers for England's counties have been revealed - with all bar three areas being placed in tougher Tier 2 or Tier 3.
The full list of which area goes into which Tier can be found here.
The move, revealed by health secretary Matt Hancock in the Commons, follows an announcement by the prime minister of a new stricter tier system that will be rolled out in England when lockdown ends on December 2.
The rules in the three tiers have been tightened across the board, aimed at keeping the virus under control.
Boris Johnson says the new system would be in place until the start of April, by which time he hoped vaccine efforts will have substantially contributed to getting rid of the virus once and for all.
Regions will find out which tier they are subject to on Thursday.
So what are the new tiers and what are the rules?
Rules across all three tiers
There are a few blanket rules which will be in place across all of England, regardless of which tier they are in.
The rule of six is back, with gatherings of more than six people banned across the country - for those in Tier 2 and Tier 3, people can only meet outdoors.
Shops, hairdressers, gyms and other forms of personal care are allowed to open in all tiers, although some extra rules will be in place for higher tiers.
Everyone will be advised to work from home if they can, up until the start of April next year.
Tier 1
People can meet indoors and outdoors with other households as long as there is a maximum of six people.
People may also stay overnight in other households as long as there are less than six people.
Pubs bars and restaurants can be open as long as they operate as table service only and stop taking orders at 10pm, with closing time at 11pm.
Weddings are allowed to have 15 guests and 30 people are allowed at funerals.
Wedding receptions are allowed.
Cinemas and other forms of indoor entertainment are allowed to open.
Places of worship are allowed to open but people must not interact with groups larger than six.
People should avoid travelling to Tier 3 areas.
Exercises classes can continue, if indoors people must follow the rule of six.
Organised sporting activity can operate.
Sports and live performances can operate if they allow social distancing and work at 50% capacity or 4,000 people when the venue is outdoors and 1,000 when the venue is indoors, whichever is less.
Tier 2
People from other households are not allowed to mix indoors, and must only meet up to six people outdoors.
Pubs and bars must close unless they serve 'substantial meals' and venues must stop taking orders by 10pm and close at 11pm.
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Weddings are allowed to have 15 guests and 30 people are allowed at funerals.
Wedding receptions are allowed.
Cinemas and other forms of indoor entertainment are allowed to open.
Exercise classes can only happen indoors if there is no interaction between other households.
Organised sport can continue.
Places of worship are allowed to open by people must only interact with others from their household.
People should try and reduce the number of journeys they take and avoid travelling to Tier 3 areas.
Sports and live performances can operate if they allow social distancing and work at 50% capacity or 2,000 people when the venue is outdoors and 1,000 when the venue is indoors, whichever is less.
Tier 3
People cannot mix indoors or in most outdoor situations with people outside of their household or support bubble.
In permitted outdoor areas like parks, they must only meet in groups of six people or less.
All pubs, bars and restaurants must close and can only operate as takeaways.
Gyms and other forms of indoor leisure are allowed to remain open but group activities must not happen.
The guidelines advise against any overnight stays, other than within a support bubble.
Exercise classes can happen outdoors but people should limit classes, they are banned inside.
Organised sport can continue.
Hotels will be told to close except for limited work reasons.
Weddings are allowed to have 15 guests and 30 people are allowed at funerals.
Wedding receptions are banned.
Indoor entertainment venues like cinemas must close.
Places of worship are allowed to open but people must only interact with others from their household.
People should make as few journeys as possible and should avoid leaving their area unless absolutely necessary.
Large events like live performances should not take place.