When Prime Minister Boris Johnson first introduced Christmas bubbles they would allow at least three households to meet for five days - from Wednesday until December 27.
But these plans have had to be scrapped now after a surge in cases of a new variant strain of coronavirus in the South East of England and London which led to a new Tier 4 being introduced.
Christmas, for Tiers 1 to 3, is now limited to just one day - Friday December 25 - with a maximum of three households allowed to meet up.
For the 17 million people in Tier 4, they are not able to form a Christmas bubble and must stay at home with their household.
The rules on Christmas bubbles are enforceable by law, the government warned.
You can only form a Christmas bubble if you do not live in a Tier 4 area.
If you are permitted to form a Christmas bubble and choose to do so:
- keep your Christmas bubble as small as possible. Two other households is a maximum, not a target
- do not join a Christmas bubble with anyone from a Tier 4 area
- stop all unnecessary social contact outside your immediate household as soon as possible and for at least five days before you meet other households in your bubble
- only meet your Christmas bubble in private homes or in your garden, places of worship, or public outdoor spaces
- only see your bubble on Christmas Day. Do not stay overnight and keep your visits as short as possible
- stay local where possible. Avoid travelling from a high prevalence to a low prevalence area
- only meet people who are not in your Christmas bubble outside your home according to the rules in the tier you live in (unless coming from a lower to a higher tier) and do not meet socially with friends and family that you do not live with in your home or garden unless they are part of your Christmas bubble
So, you cannot meet with your Christmas bubble over the New Year. As the amended rules just apply to Tiers 1, 2 and 3 and on Christmas Day only.
