Prime Minister Boris Johnson made an announcement last night on the new rules of the lockdown which will come into effect on Wednesday.

Only minor changes are being made as now is not the time to be lifting the lockdown and it is far too soon for restrictions to come to an end without risking another spike in coronavirus cases.

From Wednesday onwards people in England who can't work from home will be "actively encouraged" to return to work.

In addition, exercise will no longer be limited to one outing a day as people will soon be able to go out more often as long as they continue to follow social distancing rules.

The rule changes as stated by the prime minister will apply to England only, with the "four nations" strategy gone as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have made separate and smaller adjustments to their lockdowns .

What exactly has changed with the lockdown and what can people now do?

The government's plan

Wednesday is the day where regulations will be changed slightly in England , with one of the main changes being employees who can't work from home getting encouraged to go back to their workplace. Those who can work from home should still stay at home.

Employers will need to decide whether to bring staff back and they will have to conduct a risk assessment of the workplace in order to make it safe for all who enter. The government is still working on guidance for businesses to make workplaces safe for staff and customers.

People are being told that they should avoid public transport if at all possible, though this will be very difficult for the millions who rely on it for their commute and have little other option to get to and from work.

In addition to being able to go out for "unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise", people will be able to play sports with others from their household. They can also sit in parks or sunbathe with members of their household.

People will also be able to drive to further destinations such as parks and beaches in England.

When it comes to seeing people who aren't living in the same household, two people from different households will be allowed to meet in a public place such as a park as long as they keep at least two metres apart at all times.

These are only slight changes to the current lockdown conditions and they come into effect on Wednesday.

What the critics say

The government's new guidelines have been slated for being confusing and misleading, with even cabinet ministers getting it wrong when they have attempted to explain the new rules England will need to follow.

Johnson's decision to drop the "stay at home" part of the messaging has been criticised , with the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland critical of a clear slogan being ditched for the far more ambiguous "stay alert".

There has been a huge amount of confusion over when the lockdown rules are changing, with plenty of commuters packing onto public transport as they thought they were supposed to go back to work today.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps admitted that public transport capacity would need to drop by 90 per cent to ensure social distancing could be followed. Quite how this means everyone who will be encouraged to return to work on Wednesday and relies on public transport to get there will be kept safe from the virus is unknown.

For many people across England who are being encouraged to return to work on Wednesday public transport is their only option for commuting. A reduced capacity means social distancing will either be broken or that many will be unable to travel to work despite being "actively encouraged" to do so.

Images of people using public transport today appear to indicate that it is social distancing that will be sacrificed, meaning the measure introduced to reduce the spread of coronavirus will be broken by instructions to return to work.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab also caused confusion this morning while attempting to explain the rule changes.

He appeared to indicate that a person could meet multiple people as long as everyone was socially distant, such as someone seeing both of their parents, but the government had to say that was not correct . One person from one household can see one other person from another household as long as they stay two metres apart.

The police have voiced concerns that they will not be able to enforce the new lockdown rules, citing confusion from the government as a factor in reducing the legitimacy officers have .

There have already been several incidents of police officers not understanding the lockdown rules and mistakenly punishing members of the public, now worry the rules are "too woolly" for offices to understand and thus properly enforce.

John Apter, chair of the Police Federation, said it would be "almost impossible" to police the new lockdown.

Fines and the rest of the UK

Fines for breaking the rules of the lockdown have increased. Previous breaches of the rules could incur an on-the-spot fine of £60 from the police but that limit has now gone up to £100. Payment of the fine within 14 days of it being issued will drop the cost down to £50 .

Repeat offenders can be issued with increasingly costly fines which can rise up to £3,200. There have been over 9,000 fines issued in England and Wales since the start of the lockdown.

Scotland's only adjustment to the lockdown is an allowance for everyone to go out for exercise as much as they like. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was not confident enough that the reproduction number was not low enough to make further changes.

In Wales people will be allowed to exercise outdoors more often as long as it doesn't take anyone too far from their homes. Certain places such as garden centres will be allowed to open if they can prove they will be able to comply with social distancing, while plans are being drawn up for libraries and recycling centres to be reopened.

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Northern Ireland is keeping the old restrictions, though First Minister Arlene Foster said there could be "nuanced" changes to their lockdown in the coming days. Like Scotland and Wales, they are keeping the "stay at home" slogan.

There are conditional plans in place to reopen primary schools from June 1 at the very earliest depending on the Covid-19 situation at the time. That would also be the earliest date where a "phased reopening" of non-essential shops could occur.

Parts of the hospitality sector such as restaurants and hotels could be reopened in July at the earliest, but this is once again conditional on the progress made in reducing the spread of the coronavirus.