A UK minister says a new national lockdown may have to last longer than the planned four weeks if coronavirus infection rates don't fall quickly enough. The lockdown is due to run from Thursday until December 2. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says it is needed to stop hospitals becoming overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients within weeks.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove said it was the government's "fervent hope" that the lockdown would end on time, but that could not be guaranteed. "With a virus this malignant, and with its capacity to move so quickly, it would be foolish to predict with absolute certainty what will happen in four weeks' time," he told Sky News. "We're going to review it on the 2nd of December..."