Boris Johnson announces third national lockdown for Portsmouth, Hampshire and England - live reaction and updates

Boris Johnson spoke to the nation in a televised addressed tonight from No.10 Downing Street.

He announced the new lockdown in a bid to combat the new variant of coronavirus.

The new measures include the closing of primary, secondary schools and colleges, with pupils doing remote learning.

Also GCSE and A-Levels will not go ahead as planned.

The Prime Minister said: ‘On the 29 December more than 80,000 people tested positive across the UK, a new record.

‘We must go into a national lockdown, tough enough to combat this new variant.’

Clinically vulnerable people are being asked to shield again.

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The lockdown comes after Portsmouth and the rest of Hampshire were moved up to the new tier four in December.

Follow our live blog below for all the latest updates and reaction.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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