The country has endured a year-long “epic of endurance and privation” since the first coronavirus lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.

But “step by step, jab by jab”, the nation is on the path to “reclaiming our freedoms”, he told a news briefing.

Speaking a year after tough Covid restrictions were introduced, Mr Johnson thanked people for their “courage, discipline and patience”.

Earlier a minute’s silence was held with parliaments across the UK pausing.

At 20:00 GMT people are also being encouraged to stand on their doorsteps with phones, candles and torches to signify a “beacon of remembrance”.

Mr Johnson told a Downing Street briefing that “at the right moment” a permanent memorial to those who had died from coronavirus would be built, and that the whole period would be commemorated.

He also praised the heroes of the past year, including NHS and social care staff, shop and transport workers, the police and armed forces.

It comes as a further 112 deaths were reported within 28 days of a positive test, taking the total by this measure to 126,284, while a further 5,379 people tested positive for Covid, according to the latest government data.

The prime minister said the pandemic would be something he would remember for the rest of his life and described it as a “deeply difficult and distressing period” in history.

“For month after month, our collective fight against coronavirus was like fighting in the dark against a callous and invisible enemy – until science helped us to turn the lights on and gain the upper hand,” he said.

Mr Johnson said the government was on track to meet its target of offering a first dose of vaccine to every adult by the end of July.

But he warned the country must be “very wary” of a potential third wave, saying there were “distinct signs” of one in Europe.

England’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty warned there would be “bumps and twists on the road”, possibly including the emergence of more new variants.

However, he said a “wall of vaccinated people” would significantly reduce the ratio between the number of cases and the resulting death toll.

As of Monday, more than 28.3 million people have received a first vaccine dose, with more than 2.3 million having had a second shot.

The vaccination programme is going well, but once again we are being reminded of the threat of a third wave.

Both the prime ministers and his senior advisers made reference to it.

With restrictions lifting, cases are likely to go up – although there is hope the change in seasons will help limit those rises.

Over half of people are vaccinated, but that still leaves many millions susceptible.

Some will be in the vulnerable groups – either because they have chosen not to take up the vaccine or because it has not worked.

That means people will still die just as they do from flu each year.

In a bad winter, there can be more than 20,000 flu deaths.

Modelling suggests that with the vaccine rollout and a careful lifting of restrictions there could be 30,000 Covid deaths by summer 2022.

But the government’s advisers made clear there really is no other option, saying there is “close to zero chance” of zero Covid for a virus that spreads so easily, often undetected because so many do not even develop symptoms.

The challenge now is managing that risk.

Asked what he wished he had done differently, Mr Johnson said the “biggest false assumption” during the pandemic was over asymptomatic transmission which led to “real problems that we then had to work very, very hard to make up the ground”.

He added that no “previous government” had envisioned such a novel disease, while chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said having adequate testing at the beginning of the pandemic would have made a “big difference”.

To mark the anniversary, London’s skyline is turning yellow, with landmarks including the London Eye, Trafalgar Square and Wembley Stadium lighting up.

Other notable buildings taking part include Cardiff Castle and Belfast City Hall, while churches and cathedrals are tolling bells, lighting thousands of candles and offering prayers.

Earlier, the Queen marked the milestone by sending a bouquet of flowers to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, where the Duke of Edinburgh recently had surgery for a pre-existing heart condition.