UPDATE 2-FTSE 100 wraps up worst year since 2008 financial crisis

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* Britain tightens COVID-19 restrictions
* UK exits EU's orbit at 2300 GMT
* Countrywide surges after accepting buyout offer
* FTSE 100 down 1.5%, FTSE 250 off 1.1%

(Updates to market close)
By Shivani Kumaresan
Dec 31 (Reuters) - The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed Thursday's
shortened trading session lower and clocked its worst year since
the 2008 financial crisis as the United Kingdom widened
restrictions to stem a new variant of the coronavirus raging
across the country.
The FTSE 100 .FTSE lost 1.5%, with consumer stocks, mainly
Unilever ULVR.L , Diageo DGE.L and British American Tobacco
BATS.L , weighing on the index.
"Although markets may have some short-term nerves, UK equity
markets should appreciate strongly in 2021, along with equities
globally, propelled by an ocean of zero percent central bank
money and a post-COVID-19 economic recovery," said Jeffrey
Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA.
The FTSE 100 has shed 14.3% in value this year, its worst
performance since a 31% plunge in 2008 and underperforming its
European peers by a wide margin, as pandemic-driven lockdowns
battered the economy and led to mass layoffs.
Coronavirus infection numbers have risen sharply in Britain
over the last two weeks, driven in part by a new variant that is
up to 70% more transmissible than the original.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC , considered a barometer
of Brexit sentiment, was down 1.1%, ending the year 6.4% lower.
UK markets will be closed on Friday for New Year's Day.
The United Kingdom exits the European Union's orbit on
Thursday, at the strike of midnight in Brussels, or 2300 GMT for
an uncertain Brexit future that will shape the fortunes of its
people for generations. While a trade deal was sealed last week between the two
sides, it didn't cover services, said Russ Mould, investment
director at AJ Bell.
"So there's still quite a lot of work to be done," said
Mould.
In company news, real estate agent Countrywide CWD.L
jumped 12.9% after accepting realty management firm Connells
Ltd's sweetened buyout offer that gives it an enterprise value
of about 223.1 million pounds ($304.06 million).