Covid-19: Tier news for millions in England and Scotland, and Bobby Ball dies

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Thursday evening. We'll have another update for you tomorrow morning.

West Yorkshire has become the latest area set to enter tier three, the strictest level of rules, from Monday. Meanwhile, millions of people in other parts of England - including Yorkshire and the Humber, parts of the West and East Midlands, Luton and Oxford City - will enter tier two from Saturday. Tier two rules mean a ban on household mixing indoors. For a reminder of what tier your area is in, that's here. Meanwhile, Cyprus and Lithuania have been added to the UK government's quarantine list, meaning travellers from those places must self-isolate for two weeks from Sunday.

People in Scotland have learnt what restrictions they will be living under from Monday. No areas of the country have been put in the top level of the five-tier system - but some parts, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, are in the second highest category. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned that if people do not follow the latest travel rules, the whole country could be placed into the top tier which is close to a full lockdown. Find out what tier you're in now.

Tributes have been paid to Bobby Ball, one half of the comedy double act Cannon and Ball, who has died at the age of 76. The actor and comedian had tested positive for Covid-19. His long-time friend and colleague Tommy Cannon said: "Rock on, my good friend, I can't believe this, I'm devastated." Read the full story here.

There's been some changes to the contact-tracing app for England and Wales - which has so far been downloaded more than 19 million times. It will now send out more instructions to people to self-isolate. The app's accuracy at estimating distances has been improved and the new director of product for Test and Trace said it means that the "risk score" threshold at which notifications can be triggered has been lowered.

There's good news for one company as a result of the pandemic. Model railway maker Hornby has seen its sales surge by 33% in the six months to the end of September, as more people took up hobbies in lockdown. Not long ago, the firm, which also makes Corgi cars and Scalextric racing kits, was a "company in chaos" and losing up to £10m a year. Its boss has hailed the firm's return to profit in a "time of adversity".

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