The UK has fallen behind many other European countries in its response to coronavirus, a public health expert has said.

Trials are beginning on a new coronavirus contact-tracing app which ministers have said will save lives and help lift Britain out of lockdown.

Powerful winds and heavy rain continue to batter the UK with gales of up to 60mph sweeping across the southwest, sparking a weather warning.

The number of new Covid-19 cases "needs to come down further", an expert has warned, as the UK death toll recorded its lowest daily rise since the end of March.

There were 5,890 coronavirus-related care home deaths involving Covid-19 registered up to April 24 in England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics said.

China's ambassador to the UK has criticised MPs for "attacking" China over the coronavirus outbreak.

The coronavirus death toll in the UK has risen to more than 32,000 - and may now be the highest in Europe.

It's an agonising choice which no prime minister would ever want to have to make.

Boris Johnson's top scientist has defended the Government's battleplan against Covid-19 and said "you can't stop it".

Out of millions of visitors coming into the UK from coronavirus hotspots, less than 300 were put into quarantine in the three months before lockdown.

Nearly a quarter of employees in Britain have been furloughed in just two weeks, officials have said.

The ONS total is 34% higher than the Department of Health total.

The number of people who have died across the UK after testing positive for coronavirus has increased by 693 to nearly 30,000.

Dominic Raab has said the UK must adjust to "a new normal" in the second phase of the coronavirus response, which he insisted "will not be easy".

Reopening all schools in the UK at once would lead to a "very real risk" of the coronavirus infection rate rising and could cause a second peak, the Foreign Secretary has said.

The second stage of the coronavirus response "will not be easy" and the UK must adjust to a "new normal" to avoid a second peak , Dominic Raab has said.

Britons will enjoy another mini heatwave as temperatures soar to an unseasonably high 25C just in time for the Bank Holiday weekend.

Brits will be left in the lurch unless ministers set out a clear path for lifting the Covid-19 lockdown, a former prime minister's think tank said.

IKEA has refused to comment on reports its 18 UK stores will be reopening later this month.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said it is still too soon to say when students will be able to return to UK schools, warning it may not be until September.

There is no evidence that Covid-19 has mutated into multiple strains, new analysis shows.

The last supermoon of the year is set to appear in UK skies on Thursday.

Of the 22,049 confirmed reported deaths so far in hospitals in England, 11,575 (52 per cent) were people aged 80 and over while 8,547 (39 per cent) were 60-79.

Boris Johnson will today come under fresh criticism over his handling of the coronavirus crisis as he faces Sir Keir Starmer for the first time during Prime Minister's Questions.

Public Health England medical director Professor Yvonne Doyle said it was "too early" to compare the UK statistics with that of other countries.

The UK could start easing its lockdown by relaxing stay-at-home orders and allowing some types of non-essential businesses to reopen, according to a new study.

Boris Johnson is due to reveal details of the Government's "road map" for easing the UK's coronavirus lockdown, some of which may begin as early as next week.

Boris Johnson today indicated that lockdown restrictions could be lifted on Monday "if we possibly can" as he returned to Parliament for the first time since his recovery from coronavirus .

Warmer weather during summer months usually spells bad news for hay fever sufferers

Brits are set to bask in two days of glorious sunshine over the May Bank Holiday weekend, with temperatures creeping up to 26C.

Today's extraordinary projections of the course of the economy over the rest of the year from the Bank of England are, bizarrely, both worse and better than might be feared.

The number of people who have died after testing positive for coronavirus has jumped by 539.

The UK is past the peak of the coronavirus outbreak but the country is still at a "dangerous" stage of the pandemic, Dominic Raab has said.

The UK was ill-prepared to deal with a health pandemic, according to a secret Whitehall document produced years before the coronavirus outbreak.

Boris Johnson has said the Government will proceed with "maximum caution" when it comes to easing the coronavirus lockdown, with his spokesman adding that any changes next week will be "very limited".

Around 400,000 people in the UK could currently have coronavirus, according to a new official study, while experts say 20,000 more could be infected with the virus every day.

Legal proceedings have reportedly been launched against the Duke of York over an unpaid bill relating to a Swiss chalet.

A six-week-old baby is thought to be the youngest UK victim of coronavirus.

Britain's coronavirus death toll has passed 31,000 after a rise of 626.

The UK is set to bask in glorious sunshine on Saturday with temperatures forecast to hit 26C (78.8F).

The UK is "not out of the woods" and will live with coronavirus for some time as the death toll passes 31,000, Environment Secretary George Eustice has said.

UK arrivals could be told to self-isolate for 14-days PM will reportedly recommend face masks while at work or on public transport More money will be set aside for cycle lanes to limit rush hour travel

Britain is set for another day of sunshine, with temperatures expected to soar to 26C before cooler weather tomorrow.

One trade body said the quarantine period would have a devastating impact on the UK aviation industry and wider economy

Boris Johnson will reveal on Sunday the Government's "road map" on how it will lift restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, in what is expected to be a "modest" easing of lockdown.

Some 140 people were found making their way to Britain by the Border Force and brought ashore at Dover, according to Sky News.

The UK's official coronavirus death toll has risen by 346 to 31,587.

Friends and colleagues pay tribute to gifted polymath whose achievements spanned biology, physics and public policy

• Lord May of Oxford obituary

Pioneering Australian scientist Robert May, whose work in biology led to the development of chaos theory, has died at age 84.

Known as one of Australia’s most accomplished scientists, he served as the chief scientific adviser to the United Kingdom, was president of the Royal Society, and was made a lord in 2001.