With increasing coronavirus infection rates and hospitals across the country under extreme pressure, it became inevitable a new lockdown would be introduced, the leader of Lincolnshire County Council has said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the new lockdown last night, starting with immediate effect, meaning people must now stay at home except for a few permitted reasons.

Councillor Martin Hill said: ""e realise this will be hugely difficult news for us all, for some more than others and I'm thinking particularly of those living on their own, older people and those with health problems."

The authority is now urging people to stick to the new rules:

BBC Weather

Another cold day today with a moderate northeasterly breeze, bringing patchy cloud and scattered showers, and brief bright spells between.

Showers will be a mixture of rain, sleet and hill snow.

Little change for this evening and overnight, with patchy cloud and scattered wintry showers continuing to feed in from the east.

Some showers falling as snow away from coastal areas. A cold night.

People in Lincolnshire are waking up this morning to the start of a new coronavirus lockdown, with everyone being told they must now stay at home except for a handful of permitted reasons.

England's rules, external are due to last until at least mid-February, with PM Boris Johnson warning the coming weeks would be the "hardest yet".

It comes after the UK reported a record 58,784 cases on Monday, as well as a further 407 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Announcing the lockdown, Mr Johnson said hospitals were under "more pressure from Covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic".

He ordered people to stay indoors other than for limited exceptions - such as essential medical needs, food shopping, exercise and work that cannot be done at home - and said schools and colleges should move to remote teaching for the majority of students until at least half term.

And he said all care home residents and their carers, everyone aged 70 and over, all frontline health and social care workers, and the clinically extremely vulnerable will be offered one dose of a vaccine by mid-February.

While the rules become law in the early hours of Wednesday, people should follow them now, the PM added.

It will be a cold, but mainly dry night in Lincolnshire.

Here's the latest forecast:

Take care if you're heading out in Lincolnshire this evening.

The Met Office has a yellow "be aware" warning for ice in place until 11:00 tomorrow morning:

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At least 300 weapons were handed in during a 10-week amnesty, according to Lincolnshire Police.

Image source, Lincolnshire Police

From 8 October until 18 December, secure bins were in place at police stations in Lincoln, Grantham, Boston, Spalding and Skegness for people wanting to dispose of a weapon or an item that could be used as one.

The amnesty allowed those who took part to dispose of the items without any questions being asked.

In total, 315 weapons or items that could be used as one, such as an old unwanted kitchen knife, were handed in.

Amongs these were various knives, machetes, knuckledusters an imitation firearm and a crossbow.

Two shotguns and an air rifle were also surrendered to police during the amnesty, according to the Lincolnshire force.

Around 7,000 doses of the new Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be given out to Lincolnshire GP surgeries this week, it's been confirmed.

Image source, Steve Parsons/Pool via Reuters

That's on top of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is already being administered throughout the county and which has so far been given to at least 6,000 recipients.

Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, became the first person to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine earlier today at Oxford's Churchill Hospital.

More than half a million doses of the vaccine are ready for use today.

Dr Kieran Sharrock, medical director of Lincolnshire's Local Medical Committee, says the rollout of the new vaccine comes at what's already a very busy time for surgeries.

BBC Weather

Another chilly day, and a northeasterly breeze will provide additional wind chill.

Patchy cloud and scattered showers will feed in off the North Sea, falling as sleet and hill snow with some showers.

Tonight will see patchy cloud and scattered wintry showers feeding in off the North Sea, falling as snow in the heaviest showers. Another cold night:

Drivers travelling between Louth and Grimsby can expect more disruption from today as one of Lincolnshire's main roads is closed for work on a roundabout.

Image source, Google

Station Road in New Waltham will be shut from about 09:30 until 14:30 for the next three weeks.

Improvements on the Toll Bar roundabout have been going on now for about six months.

North East Lincolnshire Council leader Philip Jackson says the works is "on schedule and on budget" for completion at the end of January.

"That will future-proof the roundabout in terms of increased traffic and also reducing congestion," he says.

Breaking news, sport, travel and weather updates from across Lincolnshire.

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Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service is warning people to be careful if they're planning on letting off fireworks to celebrate the new year.

More people are going to buy fireworks than usual because of a lack of organised public displays due to coronavirus restrictions, the service says.

As a result, Paul Howes, fire service safety manager, says: "First of all make sure they're appropriate fireworks. Make sure you're getting them from a reputable high street-type retailer.

"I urge you not to buy them from these pop-up shops and so on as they may not be proper British Standard fireworks."

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) says its crews are still expecting a surge in demand tonight despite pubs and clubs being closed due to coronavirus restrictions.

EMAS, which covers Lincolnshire, is urging people to drink sensibly at home and take extra care to avoid putting more pressure on the service.

Dr Leon Roberts, EMAS medical director, says: "If it's a slip, a trip, a fall, a heart attack - we want to be there for you this New Year's Eve.

"What we don't want to be doing is chasing around people at home who have drunk to excess, in small villages in rural locations which stretches our resources."

On the day the county is placed in the toughest tier four coronavirus restrictions, latest infection rate figures show Lincolnshire's seven districts are all below the England average.

Lincoln and Boston, which had some of the highest rates in the country just a few weeks ago, are continuing to fall.

They're now both outside the top 100 highest areas in the country.

However, infection rates are rising in the North and South Kesteven areas of the county.

A Lincolnshire man who helped restore windmills and a woman described as a "leading light" in flood protection feature on the New Year Honours list.

Jon Sass (pictured above), 78, who lives near Market Rasen, has been appointed MBE for services to the restoration of UK windmills and watermills.

Mr Sass restored Wrawby Mill, an 18th Century windmill near Scunthorpe used for producing wheat flour, in 1961.

He later became a founding member of the Lincolnshire Mills Group, which aims to preserve and maintain mills in the county. He said the honour was "a complete surprise".

Image source, MOD

There's also a British Empire Medal (BEM) for Deborah Campbell (pictured above), 47, for services to flood protection and voluntary service to youngsters.

Ms Campbell, a technical specialist for the Environment Agency, led flood protection schemes and relief efforts in Lincolnshire following flooding in 2013, 2017 and 2019.

She directed RAF crews in delivering more than 100 tonnes of ballast to block a breach in the River Steeping when it burst its banks in June 2019.

She said she was "delighted" to be awarded the BEM.

Former Lincolnshire Chief Constable Bill Skelly and serving Assistant Chief Constable Kerrin Wilson have been recognised in the New Year’s Honours list and will receive the Queen’s Police Medal.

Image source, Lincolnshire Police

Mr Skelly (pictured above), who retired as Chief Constable earlier this month, is described as ”a visionary and inspirational leader, driven by a strong sense of justice” and someone who “made a real difference to the communities he served”.

At the time of nomination for the honour, ACC Kerrin Wilson (pictured below) was the only female chief officer in the UK from a BAME background.

Image source, Lincolnshire Police

She has been recognised for “inspiring others to greatness” and “placing diversity at the heart of her work”.

ACC Wilson says: “It truly is an honour to receive the Queen’s Police Medal and I’m delighted that my work has been recognised in this way.

"This proves that efforts across the country to embrace diversity and ensure equal opportunities for all are being noticed, and it's important we continue on this path and continue to grow both within policing and as a society.”