With a more infectious variant of coronavirus now spreading, people have been warned that some areas of England are ‘likely’ to see restrictions increased, rather than relaxed.

London and parts of the south east have already been plunged into a strict tier four lockdown, and told to only meet one member of another household outdoors, cancelling Christmas plans for many.

The rest of the country has so far escaped the strictest tier, but this is unlikely to remain the case.

The government’s chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallace warned it is likely that some areas will face harsher rules as the new variant of the virus has spread ‘everywhere’, although it is so far more prevalent in the areas already in tier four.

Latest data showing the rate of coronavirus, for the seven days up to December 16, shows that of the 315 local areas in England, 285 (90%) have seen a rise in case rates.

Only 29 (9%) have seen a fall, and one area remains unchanged.

So with cases rising across most of the country, where will the next areas to go into tier four be?

Analysis by the Daily Mail worked out the areas with the highest percentage increase in cases, based on the number of new infections per 100,000 people.

Most of the areas with the highest growth were already under a tier four lockdown, but of the 50 areas with the highest increase, 12 were only in tier two.

They included Crawley in Sussex, where cases have risen almost five fold, Eden in Cumbria, and Rushmoor in Hampshire.

These areas were all above boroughs in central London where the strictest rules are in place.

The map pictured above shows the full list.

Speaking at a press conference this evening, Sir Patrick said: ‘The evidence on this [new variant of the] virus is that it spreads easily, it’s more transmissible, we absolutely need to make sure we have the right level of restrictions in place.

‘I think it is likely that this will grow in numbers of the variant across the country and I think it’s likely, therefore, that measures will need to be increased in some places, in due course, not reduced.’

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