London could be moved into the highest Tier 3 restrictions for coronavirus after December 2 if cases of the virus continue to rise in the capital, the government have warned.

Earlier today (Thursday, November 26), Health Secretary Matt Hancock outlined the government's new Tiered system for Covid restrictions that will come into place when the current national lockdown ends just after midnight on Wednesday (December 2).

Like many other areas in the England, London was placed into the Tier 2 'High Risk' alert category, meaning restrictions on indoor household mixing largely remain but a number of businesses can open up.

However, addressing the House of Commons he conceded that there was a chance that London could yet be moved to Tier 3 'Very High Risk' restrictions if cases continued to rise in the capital:

"Of course we have been engaging with the team across London. There is a lot of work to do in London," he said, responding to a question on London's status going forward.

"There are parts of London where the cases continue to rise and we need to get that under control, but there are also parts where they are falling and things are going in the right direction.

"Likewise, there's pressure in some parts of the NHS but there's a lot of mutual aid within the NHS right across London.

"There's a lot of work to do in London to keep it in Tier 2," he added.

The numbers of new cases in many London boroughs including Lewisham, Wandsworth and Hackney are falling at the moment.

However, they are rising in other boroughs including in Croydon, Merton and Bromley.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged caution Thursday after the announcement of Tier 2 restrictions for the city from December 2:

"Government has confirmed London will be under Tier 2 as of 2nd Dec.

"Londoners: thank you for the monumental sacrifices you have made to ensure cases are falling in most parts of our city.

"However we can't be complacent - please continue to follow the rules," he wrote in a post published to Twitter.