France’s curfew to start hour later at 19:00 from Saturday

The national curfew will begin at 19:00, instead of 18:00, from this Saturday in all regions of metropolitan France, including those that will be under full lockdown from Saturday.

Four-week full lockdown for 16 departments in France

The lockdown will apply to all departments in Ile-de-France and Hauts-de-France plus Eure, Seine-Maritime and Alpes-Maritimes.

The curfew has been pushed back in line with evenings being lighter, but Prime Minister Jean Castex said it must not become a pretext for barbecues among friends or social gatherings in parks or other public spaces.

"This choice to have less restrictions on the possibilities of leaving home must be accompanied by a real vigilance,” he said.

Group gatherings must be avoided and prefects will be instructed to ban access to certain public spaces, he said.

The prime minister also said that the new lockdown measures could be extended to other departments if necessary.