Can I travel to Tier 4 for work and are buses running?
LONDON and the south east have been plunged into the toughest restrictions included in England's tiered coronavirus lockdown system.
Millions of festive plans have been shredded as Brits placed in Tier 4 are banned from forming Christmas bubbles - but how do the restrictions affect people travelling for work?
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Can I travel to Tier 4 for work?
Tier 4 includes measures on travel impacting people who live in the affected areas and anyone seeking to enter them.
You are allowed to travel to Tier 4 for essential reasons such as work, childcare or other medical reasons.
Brits under Tier 4 restrictions have been ordered by the government to stay at home.
A travel ban will come into force at one minute past midnight on Sunday, December 20.
England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty begged people not to flee the capital tonight, saying: "If you have packed a bag, unpack it."
The draconian measure has plunged millions of Christmas plans into jeopardy and it's likely that train stations will face a mad rush of Brits trying to leave Tier 4 areas before the restrictions come into force.
Full list of areas in Tier 4
HERE is the full list of areas in Tier 4.
- Kent
- Buckinghamshire
- Berkshire
- Surrey (excluding Waverley)
- The boroughs of Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings
- All 32 London boroughs and the city of London.
- Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough
- Hertfordshire
- Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring)
What are the rules on travelling to work?
Some 16.4 million people living in Tier 4 areas in London, eastern and South East England have effectively returned to the lockdown rules enforced in November.
People in this toughest tier have been told to stay home except for a few permitted reasons, and not to travel outside their local area.
The measures are designed to combat a new more infectious strain of coronavirus that has spread across the UK.
Tier 4 residents must not leave or be outside of your home except for where you have a specific purpose, or a 'reasonable excuse'.
This means reeasons such as work, healthcare, childcare, legal obligations, support bubbles and exercise.
But the list of reasons does not include leisure travel.
The drastic measures come after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was spooked about a new strain of coronavirus which is spreading "rapidly" in the south-east of England.
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The new strain is blamed for a sudden surge in hospitalisations and The Sun understands evidence shows a dramatic hike in positive cases in London in the past week.
And there are fears people are catching the virus despite wearing PPE and socially distancing.