The first national COVID-19 lockdown in the UK was announced on the evening of 23 March 2020, with the legal regulations coming into force on 26 March 2020.

Key dates

  • 23 March 2020 : Then–Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first UK-wide “stay at home” lockdown in a televised address, telling people they must only leave home for limited essential reasons.
  • 26 March 2020 : The lockdown rules were given legal force in England via The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020, marking the formal start in law.

What “first lockdown” usually means

Most news outlets, timelines, and later retrospectives treat “the first lockdown” as the moment of the nationwide announcement on 23 March 2020, because that is when people were first told to stay at home and non-essential businesses were ordered to close.

Context at the time

  • In the week before, on 16 March 2020, the government had already advised people to avoid non‑essential contact and travel, but this was guidance rather than a full lockdown.
  • The March 23 announcement became one of the most-watched political broadcasts in UK history, marking a major turning point in daily life and pandemic policy.

TL;DR: When people ask “when was the first lockdown in the UK?”, the standard answer is 23 March 2020 (announcement), with the legal start on 26 March 2020.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.