Popular coffee chain Costa has announced they plan to close all of their UK branches - apart from the ones in hospitals - in a bid to support the government's social distancing rules and help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
More than 2,000 stores - including those across Edinburgh - will shut as of this evening (23 March) until further notice, the coffee chain confirmed.
Costa branches had already closed their tables and were operating only as a takeaway service last week, but that will also stop tonight.
Hospital branches will remain an exception, with Costa continuing to provide free hot drinks for all NHS workers for the next two weeks.
While Costa Express machines - which can be found in garages and supermarket outlets - will also remain open “wherever possible”.
A statement from Costa said: “At Costa Coffee our number one priority is the safety of our store teams and customers.
"As the need to support social distancing increases, we have taken the decision to temporarily close our stores from this evening, Monday, March 23.
“We will do our best to keep our Costa stores open in hospitals where we will continue to provide free takeaway coffee for the next two weeks to the NHS workers who are at the forefront of this crisis.
“Wherever possible, we will also keep our Costa Express machines available to serve you a great cup of coffee”.
