Highest daily increase in UK coronavirus cases

The UK has recorded its highest daily increase of coronavirus cases, with 41,385 positive tests recorded in the last 24 hours. And those latest numbers don’t include Northern Ireland.

The government nevertheless says pupils in England should still start returning to school from next week, despite teaching unions calling for a delay.

Finland and South Korea are the latest countries to confirm cases of the new, faster-spreading variant in people recently returned from Britain.