All schools in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland will be closing their gates as of Friday.

Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson said in parliament that it has become "increasingly difficult" for schools to function as normal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the news minutes later at his daily press conference, saying the "objective" was to "slow the spread of the virus". Johnson said: "We must apply further downward pressure on that upward curve by closing the schools."

Watch Prime Minister Johnson's address below:

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMtE1ppmkM0]]

Schools will be closed to all pupils, except those of key workers and those considered to be the "most vulnerable".

All UK schools will be closed "until further notice".

Johnson also stated that scheduled exams will not take place in May and June.

In order to protect the elderly, the PM also stated that children should not be left with older people.

The announcement comes after Scotland and Wales announced they will be closing their schools from Friday in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says schools have now lost too many staff to continue as normal. Per the Daily Express, Sturgeon said: "These measures are about protecting the population as a whole and safeguarding our NHS."

It is not known when Scotland's school will reopen.

Northern Ireland has taken the decision to close all its schools as of 17:00 GMT today (Wednesday).

Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Layla Moran MP spoke to Sky News about the "consequences" of closing schools, saying: "Looking at the modeling that was released yesterday it does seem like it is almost going to become an inevitability but it makes it very clear in those models that there are other consequences to closing schools.

"While on the one hand, we worry about the students who are about to take their exams. Will schools have the resources to be able to do online teaching?

"What about the vulnerable students who rely on schools for free school meals? The other impact is on the NHS workers who rely on schools to be able to look after children.

"In my view, I think we have now come to the point where we would rather be safe than sorry. I would certainly support closing schools and universities so long as we have taken the time to plan."

According to the BBC, the most recent NHS numbers state that the UK death toll has increased by 32 from yesterday to 104. Currently, there have been 2,626 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK.

As of the most recent situation report from the World Health Organization, there have been 179,112 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world, and 7,426 deaths. These numbers are increasing every hour.

But according to BBC News, as of today, the number of confirmed cases globally has now surpassed 200,000, with the death toll climbing over 8,000.

All UK schools to close as of Friday