Covid-19 in the UK: How many coronavirus cases are there in your area?

There have been more than 1.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK and more than 55,000 people have died, government figures show.

However, these figures include only people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus and other measures suggest the number of deaths is higher.

Find out how the pandemic has affected your area and how it compares with the national average:

If you can't see the look-up click here.

New cases 'flattening'

After the first peak in April, cases started rising in the UK again in July, with the rate of growth increasing sharply in September and October.

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that recent figures suggest "the second peak is flattening".

On Wednesday, the government announced a further 18,213 confirmed cases.

It is thought the infection rate was much higher during the first peak in spring, but testing capacity at the time was too limited to detect the true number of daily cases.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is tracking Covid-19 in the community, also suggest that infections have levelled off in recent weeks.

Approximately one in 80 people in homes in England had coronavirus in the week ending 14 November, according to the ONS. That's about 665,000 people and slightly up on the previous week.

In Wales, about one in 165 (18,400 people) had the virus during the same time period, while in Northern Ireland rates are thought to be decreasing at around one in 135 people (about 13,600 people). In Scotland, the figure was one in 155 having the virus (about 34,000 people).

The South East, London and the East of England are the only areas to have seen cases rise in recent weeks.

Daily deaths have risen

The average number of daily deaths has been rising since September.

On Wednesday, the government announced a further 696 deaths.

Of these, 604 deaths were in England, 44 in Scotland, 41 in Wales and seven in Northern Ireland.

Rules were amended over the summer to include deaths in the coronavirus total only if they occurred within 28 days of a positive test. Previously in England, all deaths after a positive test were included.

England has seen the majority of UK deaths from Covid-19. Using the 28-day cut-off, there have been nearly 50,000.

Hospital admissions vary around UK

Although hospital admissions for Covid-19 remain below the levels seen in the spring, there are big regional disparities.

The North West, North East and Yorkshire, and Midlands have seen the highest number of admissions but the situation in all three appears to be improving.

Where are cases rising the most?

Cases have risen across large parts of England, with other spikes in areas of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The red areas on the map below are those currently seeing the highest number of cases per 100,000 people.

Restrictions have been tightened across the UK in an effort to tackle the number of rising cases.

In England, a tougher three-tiered system of local restrictions which will come into force when the national lockdown ends on 2 December.

In Northern Ireland, a two-week "circuit-break" lockdown will begin on 27 November.

In Wales, a two-week "firebreak" lockdown, which began in the last week of October, has now ended but some restrictions are still in place.

Scotland has a five-tier system of alert levels with different measures in place in different parts of the country.

UK leaders have agreed to allow up to three households to meet indoors during a five-day Christmas period of 23-27 December.

Overall death toll could be more than 70,000

When looking at the overall death toll from coronavirus, official figures count deaths in three different ways.

Government figures count people who tested positive for coronavirus and died within 28 days.

But there are two other measures.

The first includes all deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate, even if the person had not been tested for the virus. The most recent figures suggest there had been more than 66,000 deaths by 13 November.

The second measure counts all deaths over and above the usual number at the time of year - that figure was more than 73,000 by 13 November.

The most recent figures available from the ONS are for the second week of November, which show there were 13,972 deaths registered in the UK.

Some 2,838 of these deaths involved Covid-19 - up from 2,225 the week before.

Deaths normally do rise at this time of the year, but the data from the ONS and its counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland show the second wave of the virus has pushed the death rate above the average seen over the past five years.

Overall, the figures are still well below the peak of 9,495 deaths recorded in a week, reached on 17 April.

What is the R number in the UK?

The "R number" is the average number of people an infected person will pass the disease on to.

If R is below one, then the number of people contracting the disease will fall; if it is above one, the number will grow.

The government's current estimate for the R number across the whole of the UK is 1 to 1.1.

The estimate for England is 1 to 1.1, while for Scotland it is 0.8 to 1. The estimate for Wales is 0.9 to 1.2 and in Northern Ireland it is 0.9 to 1.1.

The government has said in the past that the R number is one of the most important factors in making policy decisions.