Some British hospitals look like war zones with doctors struggling to cope with an influx of patients infected with COVID-19, the government's top scientific adviser said, as the death toll rose by a record daily amount towards 100,000.
The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is likely to protect against a more infectious variant of the virus discovered in Britain which has spread around the world, according to results of further lab tests released on Wednesday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he looked forward to working with Joe Biden on their "shared priorities", just hours before Biden is inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States.
Britain said on Wednesday it was helping Kenya prepare to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Astrazeneca and Oxford University, as African nations race to ensure their populations are inoculated.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday it was "outrageous" that any police data had been lost, but his government was working to assess the damage after thousands of records were deleted in error.
British inflation gathered speed in December, starting what is expected to be a climb this year as pandemic-fighting measures, Brexit and a recovery in the economy combine to push up costs for consumers and businesses.
The Bank of England's health check on banks this year will seek to ensure that Britain's big lenders, including HSBC, and Barclays, can continue supporting the economy during the pandemic and will also look at how banks can return to more normal dividend levels.
British electricals retailer Dixons Carphone has experienced some "teething" issues supplying Ireland in the wake of the post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union which kicked-in on Jan. 1, its boss said on Wednesday.
More than 100 British musicians, from pop and rock idols including Ed Sheeran, Sting and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters to classical stars such as conductor Simon Rattle, have said tours of Europe by British artists are in danger because of Brexit.
Burberry stuck to its full-year goals on Wednesday after a media campaign fronted by high-profile English soccer star and social justice advocate Marcus Rashford drew a younger clientele to the British luxury brand.