Boris Johnson has said he has ‘serious serious concerns’ over the spread of the Indian variant of the coronavirus in the UK.

The Prime Minister is expected to announce a delay to lockdown lifting in England of up to four weeks amid warnings the country is facing a third wave of the virus.

He told Sky News: ‘It’s clear that the Indian variant is more transmissible and it’s also true that the cases are going up, and that the levels of hospitalisation are going up.

‘Now, we don’t know exactly to what extent that is going to feed through into extra mortality, but clearly it’s a matter of serious, serious concern.’

Asked if he was less optimistic now than he was at the end of May, he said: ‘Yes, that’s certainly fair.

‘What we want to do is make sure that the road map is irreversible, but you can’t have an irreversible road map unless you’re prepared to be cautious. Some of the data is still open to question, but we’ll be making an announcement on Monday.’

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