Scotland lockdown rules: What are the new restrictions in place after Christmas?

Scotland to enter highest alert level from Boxing Day

A shopper passes a billboard poster featuring a Christmas turkey in Edinburgh city centre (PA)

Scotland will be put under the highest level of restrictions from Boxing Day after Nicola Sturgeon joined crisis talks amid the discovery of a new, fast-spreading variant of coronavirus.

The first minister said the government had to act to curb the spread of the new strain, of which 17 cases have been identified in Scotland so far.

Announcing the tougher measures “makes me want to cry”, Sturgeon said, adding: “I share that sense of fatigue and demoralisation about this.”

The plans for a UK-wide relaxation of measures between 23 and 28 December have been scrapped, but households will be able to mix in Scotland on Christmas Day – although Sturgeon says her “strong advice” is to spend Christmas alone.

A “strict travel ban” is already in place to stop travel between Scotland and England over the festive period, including 25 December.

From Boxing Day, the whole of mainland Scotland will be placed into level 4 restrictions – the highest of the five tiers – for at least three weeks.

Only essential travel will be permitted.

Non-essential shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants and hairdressers will close, but takeaways, drive-throughs and deliveries will be allowed.

Schools will open for keyworkers as normal, but the majority of pupils will not return from 11 January, with online learning until at least 18 January.

Unlike mainland Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and other island communities will move to level 3.

The lockdown will be reviewed after two weeks, Sturgeon said.

Scotland has the lowest case rate in the UK, with 111,546 infections since the start of the pandemic.

Three people in the country died of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 4,283, the Scottish government said on Sunday.