AFP/Getty Images Copyright: AFP/Getty Images A flower seller waits for business ahead of Mother's Day in Birmingham Image caption: A flower seller waits for business ahead of Mother's Day in Birmingham

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged people not to visit loved ones on Mother's Day, which will be celebrated on Sunday.

He warned that the country's national health service could be "overwhelmed" if people did not act to slow the "accelerating" spread of coronavirus, .

The number of people who have died in the UK with coronavirus rose to 233 on Saturday, as cases topped 5,000.

It comes as NHS England plans to write to 1.5 million people most at risk.

Those at-risk people will receive letters or text messages strongly advising them not to go out for 12 weeks to protect themselves, the government said.

They include people who have received organ transplants, are living with severe respiratory conditions such as cystic fibrosis or specific cancers such as blood or bone marrow.