Revellers in Tier 2 Liverpool and York brave stormy weather to head out for some Boxing Day drinks 

Revellers in Tier 2 cities flocked to bars to make the most of Boxing Day while millions remain in tough lockdown restrictions. 

Hardy revellers in Liverpool and York braved freezing temperatures and even the mutant Covid virus for a few hours of freedom over the festive period. 

In places spared tier 4 restrictions, revellers enjoyed a bit of normality and headed to venues which are allowed to remain open under current regulations, despite stormy conditions.   

Under tier 2 rules, people are allowed to meet indoors, including public venues, with members of the same household or people whom you have formed a support bubble with.

Outdoors, you can meet family and friends who you do not live with in groups no larger than six.

Under tier 2 rules, people are allowed to meet indoors, including public venues, as keen party goers head out in York

People flock to bars to enjoy freedom on Boxing Day in Liverpool which is under Tier 2 restrictions

Revellers in Tier 2 Liverpool flocked to bars to make the most of Boxing Day despite stormy weather

One girl wears a mask under her chin while another covers her hair from the rainy weather in Liverpool

Revellers queue outside a bar in Liverpool as they make the most of Tier 2 restrictions on Boxing Day

One girl wears her mask during a night out in York as crowds flock to bars despite stormy weather

Venues such as restaurants and pubs, which are allowed to stay open under Tier 2, must use Covid-secure measures and follow Government guidelines.

Under the new Tier 4 restrictions, which affects areas including London, parts of Essex and Peterborough, pubs and restaurants as well as all non-essential shops must close.

The rules also state you cannot leave or be outside of your home unless you have what the Government deems a specific purpose, or a ‘reasonable excuse’.

These excuses include essential activities such as food shopping and exercise, childcare arrangements or going to work. 

More than 40 per cent  of England’s population are settling in for lockdown conditions from Boxing Day after a further six million people were placed under Tier 4 restrictions.

A group of girls pose for the camera after hitting the bars in Tier 2 Liverpool, which can stay open under current restrictions

Revellers brave the cold and cover their heads with their jackets as they head out in stormy weather in York

One girl covers her hair with her bag in York as revellers head out to celebrate freedom on Boxing Day 

Mr Hancock said the UK’s variant coronavirus was spreading at a ‘dangerous rate’ as he announced the measures, which include tough restrictions on mixing with people and the closure of non-essential shops.

Areas moving to Tier 4 from Boxing Day are: Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, those parts of Essex not yet in Tier 4, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire – including Portsmouth and Southampton but with the exception of the New Forest. 

Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset including the North Somerset council area, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest and Northamptonshire as well as Cheshire and Warrington will all be escalated to Tier 3.

Cornwall and Herefordshire move from Tier 1 to Tier 2.

The changes mean 24 million people will now be in Tier 4, or 43 per cent of the population of England.

Two girls protect their hair from the elements as they wait in a queue for a bar in York 

A police officer wearing a mask watches a group of youths in York as the city remains in Tier 2 restrictions