Tens of thousands of followers of the Christian and Islamic faiths in North Wales will be finding new ways to worship during the coronavirus lockdown.

With several major religious festivals either under way or fast approaching, many people across the world are getting creative in order to celebrate while in isolation.

Office for National Statistics figures show that Denbighshire was home to 51,293 Christians in 2018, the most recent year with available data.

Conwy was home to 66,837 Christians, Anglesey to 44,159 Christians and Gwynedd to 60,179 Christians.

They will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion on Easter Sunday.

In the lead-up to this, some people fast for Lent, while others give up certain foods. This reflects the biblical account of Jesus fasting for forty days in the wilderness.

On its website, the Church of England says: “While worship in our churches is suspended, our joy in the resurrection is not to be silenced.

“Across the country, churches are finding ways to join in loving and praying for the communities they serve.

“As we are largely confined to our homes and physically separated from one another, we need to find ‘the church within’.”

An Easter Day service led by the Archbishop of Canterbury will be broadcast on Facebook, while more than 1,000 church leaders across the country will also host live streams.

Meanwhile, the National Methodist Choir of Great Britain is holding an online choir on Easter Sunday at 4pm.

The figures also show that there were 448 Muslims living in Denbighshire in 2018, 1,069 in Gwynedd and 478 in Conwy.

There were no figures for Muslims in Anglesey, because the sample size was too small.

The holy month of Ramadan begins on April 23. Muslims fast from dawn until sunset during this time, and would usually then gather with family and friends in the evening for the Iftar meal, when the fast is broken.

It is a time of spiritual devotion, and one of giving, when people are encouraged to be charitable.

The Muslim Council of Britain has prepared an information “toolkit” to provide advice during the Covid-19 outbreak.

It says: “Many community groups are exploring alternative ways of keeping connected, including live streaming services, community radio stations and hot iftar meal drop-offs to neighbours.”

The document also recommends that people start fasting regularly to prepare themselves for Ramadan.

“Also, maybe it’s a good time to rethink your diet – some staples are now hard to come by, but unsurprisingly, fresh foods (such as fruits and vegetables) seem widely available,” it adds.

There were an estimated 32.2 million Christians across Britain in 2018, according to the ONS data.

This was followed by 3.4 million Muslims, 953,000 Hindus and 311,000 Jews. Around 25 million people were recorded as having no religion.