Easing of UK restrictions should not go ahead while they risk a third wave of coronavirus Christmas is on hold. The governments of the four nations of the United Kingdom are reviewing the proposed relaxation of their Covid restrictions over the holidays. A common policy had been agreed which allowed up to three households to be able to travel and meet up indoors between 23 and 27 December. Many...

Researchers in race to determine whether new strain spreads more easily Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Covid vaccination programme should be ramped up and people told to take extra precautions to help contain the new coronavirus variant that is spreading fast in southern England, a leading scientist has said.Urgent studies are under way at Porton Down and other...

Scientists hope dust will shed light on formation of universe and offer clues about how life began on EarthScientists in Japan said they were left “speechless” when they saw how much asteroid dust was inside a capsule delivered by the Hayabusa-2 space probe.The Japanese probe collected surface dust and pristine material last year from the asteroid Ryugu, about 200m miles (300km) away, during...

Beijing is aiming to control rain and snow across half the country. But it is the reason it wants to do this that is really frighteningRemember when Donald Trump wanted to nuke hurricanes so they didn’t hit the US? Everyone laughed uproariously, but Trump’s warped little mind was actually on to something. You may not be able to bomb hurricanes into oblivion, but you can shoot things into the...

Ruling on Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine brought forward to 21 DecemberCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe EU drug regulator has brought forward its ruling on the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine after Germany made it clear it wanted approval before Christmas.The Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency’s announcement that it will meet on 21 December instead of 29 December...

Move signals government’s determination to keep schools open in run-up to Christmas and beyondCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe London borough of Greenwich has been forced to back down over plans to close its schools early and switch to online learning following legal action by the government, which later revealed plans for mass testing in secondary schools across...

Call echoed by head of hospital doctors’ union and in a letter from Keir Starmer to the PMCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePlans to relax Covid restrictions at Christmas must be reversed or many lives risk being lost, according to a rare joint editorial from two of the UK’s most eminent medical journals. That call was echoed by the head of the hospital doctors’...

The emergence of a novel coronavirus prompted a wave of global collaboration that has led to vaccines, treatments and the promise of new discoveriesShow your support for rigorous, independent Guardian journalismCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFor scientists, 5 January was a turning point in the fight against the coronavirus. That day, a team led by Prof Yong-Zhen...

Team will study effects on environment of A-68A, which is heading for South GeorgiaScientists are preparing for an urgent mission to the world’s biggest iceberg, which is on a collision course with the island of South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean.The A-68A iceberg, which is larger than Luxembourg, broke off from the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica in 2017 and has been drifting towards...