THE WELSH Government only found out about the lockdown in England when reading it in the newspapers, Mark Drakeford has said.

Speaking in Monday's press conference, Mr Drakeford said the decision by Boris Johnson to enforce a four-week national lockdown in England came as a "surprise" to him.

The decision has meant advice for the hospitality sector, especially in border areas, for after the firebreak lockdown had to be delayed, after concerns people in England would travel to Wales to drink or visit restaurants.

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However, the first minister did say this decision had led to a number of meetings between the governments of each of the UK nations, something Welsh Government ministers have been calling for since the start of the pandemic.

"It was a surprise to us," said Mr Drakeford. "The prime minister, even in the second half of last week, was describing a national lockdown of the sort that has been introduced as a national disaster, so it was a surprise to find the sudden change of tack. Not that I'm criticising anybody for making those difficult decisions in their own circumstances.

"We found out originally, as many others did, by hearing newspaper reports of this.

"Since then, we have had more contact directly with the UK government.

"I took part in a meeting with the other first ministers chaired by Michael Gove on Saturday; officials met with UK Government officials yesterday; there's been a further meeting chaired by Mr Gove that I took part in and Vaughan Gething took part in this morning; there's a suggestion there will be a further meeting between us before the end of this week.

"Now if that is true, I welcome it, because it will give us something we have been calling for throughout the last six months - a regular and reliable pattern of engagement in which we share information, understand each other's contexts and lead to better decision making. So I'm hopeful that we have finally arrived at a point where all of that will now happen."