A week before Christmas, with coronavirus cases rising in all but one English region, millions more people are preparing to live under tougher restrictions. Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hertfordshire will move up a tier, along with parts of Surrey, East Sussex, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire, meaning 38 million people will be subject to the strictest - tier three - rules. Meanwhile, a tough new lockdown starting on 26 December in Northern Ireland will see the closure of non-essential shops, hair and beauty salons, with pubs, cafes and restaurants limited to offering takeaway services.

With Boxing Day sales scrapped ahead of a top-level lockdown in Wales on 28 December, and Scotland's leaders warning they can't rule out similar measures after the festive period, there is fresh concern about the UK-wide relaxation of rules over Christmas. Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, says it will "undoubtedly lead to more cases, more pressure on NHS and care services, and more deaths". Conversely, the decision to keep Greater Manchester subject to the harshest restrictions angered some, including Altrincham MP Sir Graham Brady, who notes: "In nine of the 10 boroughs rates are below the national average."

"If this were drugs, it would be a national scandal," an intelligence officer tells us, describing highly organised rackets across the UK. The crime? Dog theft. "Since lockdown it's been an epidemic," he adds. With more people confined to home and seeking company, puppy prices have soared. Our report explains how gangs are stealing adult dogs, feeding them fertility hormones to make them breed three or four times a year, and selling the puppies for millions of pounds in profit. Fines are the only deterrent. One woman, whose father's dog was stolen, said when the pet was finally tracked down: "Her eyes were really dead. She was as skinny as a rake."

"Progress seems blocked and time is running out." Despite this stark view from the UK's chief Brexit negotiator, Lord Frost, talks will resume later in a bid to strike a trade deal to come into force in 14 days' time. That's when the UK is due to cease trading under EU rules, triggering border checks and taxes on goods. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says agreeing in areas such as fishing rights will be "very challenging" but welcomes "substantial progress on many issues". The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg says many MPs expect to rubber-stamp a deal next week, with one cabinet minister telling her: "Rational heads will prevail." But, our political editor adds, those close to the talks fear the chances of no deal "have been under priced".

While some papers lead on UK-EU trade negotiations, most front pages focus on the coronavirus pandemic. With parts of the Home Counties to join London in the toughest tier of restrictions, the Daily Mail says the country faces "the bleakest of midwinters". A growing number of hospitals are running short of beds and having to divert patients, according to analysis reported in the Guardian. Health Secretary Matt Hancock is considering additional curbs, such as the closure of non-essential shops, in virus "hotspots", according to the Times. Yet the Daily Mirror foresees a Christmas "free-for-all" when restrictions are temporarily relaxed. "Tiers before bedlam," is its headline. And, as if 2020 hasn't given us enough problems, the Daily Star predicts a new-year revival of that "appalling 80s haircut", the mullet.

It's not quite happy hour yet but you can at least find out about the US couple who found prohibition-era whisky bottles hidden in the walls of their home. Or, if you'd prefer something more wholesome, read about the innovative ways schools have found to save the nativity play.

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