BBC Weather

A dull morning with the odd shower around before they mainly clear away this afternoon with the chance of a sunny spell later. High: 4C (39F).

Clear spells to start tonight leading to a widespread frost. By the early hours, fog is expected to develop for many places. Low: -2C (28F).

You can stay up-to-date with the latest forecast for your area by going to the BBC Weather website.

A volunteer group is hoping to "bring a bit of joy" by giving presents to children in struggling families who have birthdays during the new lockdown.

Lucie Dennis said their families would get hampers, which include essential items, alongside presents.

"I think sadly, some families will be facing new struggles," she said. "Money worries they will have not had before.They may be waiting for benefits to kick in, or they may have lost their income suddenly."

Image source, Lucie Dennis

The mother-of-three set up the Help To Make Tummies Full group after being inspired by footballer Mark Rashford's food poverty campaign.

The group provided 500 Christmas hampers after a "phenomenal" response, she said.

Ms Dennis said it would buy presents using online donations, adding volunteers would "do what we can" during lockdown,

Welcome to our live service for Wednesday.

We'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

We love to hear from you so share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email, Twitter, external and Facebook., external

Around 2,000 students will have their grades decided by teacher assessments instead of exams.

Live updates have now ended for the West Midlands.

We'll be back with you from 08:00 on Wednesday with the latest news on the coronavirus lockdown as well as the sport, travel and weather.

"We want to be there when restrictions are lifted," says one business owner.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Alex Moore

There were 18 outbreaks of Covid-19, including one “serious incident” involving 60 people, at Shropshire’s hospitals in December, a report has found.

Nursing director of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Hayley Flavell, found 98 staff and 174 patients were affected by outbreaks across both hospitals in December.

Public Health England defines an outbreak as a case where two or more confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases can be associated with a specific location.

Ms Flavell says new measures, including more frequent screening of patients and separate wash facilities for those with Covid-19, have been introduced in response.

The report will be discussed at a meeting of the trust's board on Thursday.

Schools spent the Christmas break preparing for Covid testing before the shutdown was announced.

The mayor of the West Midland has welcomed an announcement of new government grants for businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure.

Image source, PA Media

But, he added: "It depends how long it lasts for.

"If we come out of the lockdown in mid-February," he said, "I suspect we won't get a similar grant to this extended.

"What is really important then is to help the businesses through the recovery period - just because you can open again does not mean you've suddenly got full tills again.

"So what I'll be looking for is for VAT rates to remain low for hospitality businesses, for business rates to remain probably exempt into the coming year and more time to repay loans."

Heritage attractions are in "jeopardy" amid a shortage of English coal, industry warns.

Nursery staff should be moved to the top of the list for Covid-19 vaccinations, an early years education provider has said.

Schools have closed for England's new lockdown but nurseries are open.

Image source, Stuart Harding

Stuart Harding who owns four nurseries, including three in the West Midlands, said the anxiety levels and concerns of the child care staff had been "magnified tenfold" as coronavirus rates rose in England.

The Child 1st nurseries operate in Stoke-on-Trent, Solihull, Coleshill and Bakewell, employing about 105 staff and providing 376 childcare places.

He said there were "pros and cons" to remaining open, but that the early years sector had always been the "poor relation as far as the government are concerned".

He added: "They're asking schools and primary schools to close and surely they should really think about putting child care workers in the early years sector at the top of the vaccination list."

Ben Godfrey
BBC Midlands Today

Teachers from one of the largest primary schools in Wolverhampton have been delivering work resources to pupils remaining at home.

Following the announcement of a new lockdown last night, only 70 pupils out of 700 attended East Park Primary today - the children of key workers and vulnerable families.

Executive head teacher Hayley Guest said she was under "no doubt" that pupils would suffer during lockdown.

"Another half a term is significant for any child," she said.

And although she said it was the right decision to close schools, Ms Guest said teachers should have been informed earlier.

"Significant communication took place across the whole of the weekend, and as a school we had to prepare a number of different plans."

A ban on takeaway pints during lockdown could be the "death knell for many pubs", the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has warned.

Image source, Google

The manager of one pub in Stourbridge said it was "really sad" they were no longer able to sell takeaway beer.

Mary Bagley of The Unicorn in Wollaston said sales of pints in sealed cartons near the front door of Bathams Brewery had been done with a card reader to ensure social distancing.

She said: "It was nice to speak to people that we hadn't seen for a while and that's all going to stop."

Ms Bagley, who is on furlough, added: "It's sad, really sad, but you can't do anything about it."

A Birmingham school pupil has described the difficulties of studying during lockdown.

Asad Kalang is a year thirteen student who should have been doing A-levels this summer.

Image source, PA Media

"It's going to be really, really hard to try and focus on the exams, as well as do preparation, deal with the stresses under lockdown," he said.

"It's quite hard to be at a desk for a couple of hours a day, not being able to talks to my classmates.

"There's technical problems as well, asking teachers questions, asking them to check work and stuff."

Supermarkets' online shopping operations have come under strain with customers rushing to book deliveries as the new coronavirus lockdown began.

Image source, PAUL ELLIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Within a couple of hours of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's speech to the nation on Monday, shoppers reported problems with Sainsbury's and Tesco.

Sainsbury's said on Tuesday that earlier it had restricted access to its online services to manage high demand.

The surge in demand echoes consumers' reaction at the start of the pandemic.

What are your food shopping plans as online demand increases? Are you happy to visit essential stores amid surging numbers of Covid-19 cases, or do you prefer to order over the web?

You can let us know your thoughts via email, Twitter , externaland Facebook., external

Hereford's National League North game at Spennymoor tonight has been called off with both clubs reporting positive coronavirus results.

It now seems almost certain that Hereford's home game with Brackley on Saturday and next Tuesday's trip to Telford will also be called off.

Ged Scott
BBC Sport, West Midlands

Professional sport in England can continue behind closed doors, despite a new national lockdown announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

It means Premier League football and elite leagues in other sports are allowed to carry on.

Still competing in the West Midlands:

Football

Premier League – Wolves, Villa and Albion

Championship – Stoke City, Birmingham City and Coventry City

League One – Shrewsbury Town and Crewe

League Two – Port Vale and Walsall

National League - Solihull Moors

National League North – Kidderminister Harriers, Hereford, Leamington and Telford

Anything below the sixth tier of the national football pyramid is mothballed.

The top two levels of women's football will also keep going.

WSL – Birmingham City Women, Aston Villa Women

Womens Championship – Coventry United Ladies

Rugby Union

Premiership Rugby - Wasps and Worcester Warriors. (Wasps are set to travel to Bath on Friday in the first of this weekend's matches.)

Horse Racing

The picture is less clear here.

A jumps meeting at Ludlow today was called off due to frost but there will still be racing on the flat on the all-weather track at Wolverhampton tonight.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Covid vaccines should be prioritised in schools “as a matter of urgency” to give staff and parents confidence that children can return safely, Coventry council’s leader has said.

Only vulnerable children and those of some key workers are going to school at the moment with the rules due to be reviewed on February 15.

George Duggins, Labour, said: “I am very much in favour of NHS workers getting it in the first instance but school staff should have had it available as a matter of urgency.

“If it was I do believe staff would feel a lot more secure than they do and I understand the insecurity they have.”

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

With the country in lockdown and a new faster-spreading variant of coronavirus rampant, it's clear the UK is in a race to vaccinate.

Image source, Getty Images

Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants all the over-70s, the most clinically vulnerable and front-line health and care workers to be offered a jab by mid-February, to allow the restrictions to be eased.

That requires about 13 million people to be given the opportunity to be vaccinated - but so far only one million have been.

And ensuring a quick rollout to the rest is fraught with difficulties.

There is enough a vaccine in the country, BBC News has learned, but getting it into people's arms could be hampered by:

• a global shortage of glass vials to package up the vaccines
• long waits for safety checks
• the process of ensuring there are enough vaccinators

You can read more on this issue here.

A head teacher has spoken of her frustration over the lack of notice given to parents after the government announced on Monday evening the immediate closure of schools in England to help curb the spread of Covid-19.

Image source, Google

Bryony Baynes of Kempsey Primary School in Worcestershire said: "I really cannot believe that they think it's acceptable to drop a bombshell like this on parents with no notice.

"Once again they are making this catastrophic U-turn without allowing parents to put anything into place. I am going to get so many angry accusatory emails from parents who are seeing their livelihoods disappear because they haven't got childcare."

Ms Baynes also said her year six students would not be entered for upcoming SATs. "This is the time when we would begin preparing them but I will not enter them for exams they are unable to prepare for."

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said the decision to close schools was made with "the heaviest of hearts". He added it came after the UK's chief medical officers recommended a move to Covid threat level five.

The UK reported a record 58,784 Covid-19 cases on Monday, as well as a further 407 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.