Scots schools will remain closed for a longer period due to concerns over a new strain of coronavirus.
Education facilities were originally due to reopen on or around January 5 after the festive break - but the date has now been pushed back to January 11 but for online learning only.
Pupils and students will start online learning on January which will continue until at least January 18th an potentially beyond;.
Schools will only reopen fully on January 18 if the spread of a new strain of Covid-19 is managed in Scotland.
The new school opening schedule applies for the majority of pupils but children of key workers and ‘very vulnerable’ pupils will return to school on or around January 5 as planned.
Nicola Sturgeon announced the news today among a raft of new restrictions at an emergency press briefing.
Three households will only be able to form a festive bubble on Christmas Day - instead of for five days as announced previously.
And a level four lockdown is being imposed across all of mainland Scotland from 00.01am on Boxing Day.
Island communities of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles will move into tier three.
The new restrictions will be in place in Scotland for three weeks, but they will be reviewed by the Scottish Government after two.
Scots have also been banned from travelling to other parts of the UK over Christmas and beyond amid fears of a new coronavirus strain.
The new variant of the virus is said to be spreading quicker than previous strains after it was first discovered in the south east of England.
Sturgeon said that 17 cases of the new strain have so far been identified in Scotland.
The First Minister described the variant as the “most serious situation” in the pandemic so far.
