Britain registered 40,941 new Covid-19 infections, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 9,806,034, according to official figures released.
The country also reported a further 150 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 143,866, with 8,079 Covid-19 patients still in hospital.
The soaring cases in Europe underlined "how quickly things can go wrong," said John Edmunds, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), Xinhua news agency reported.
On Thursday, the UK Health Security Agency (HSA) released data showing a spike in Covid cases among school children in England, likely to reflect children returning to school after half-term.
More than 88 per cent of people aged 12 years and above in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 80 per cent have received both doses, the latest figures indicate. More than 25 per cent have received booster jabs, or the third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.