The leaders of the devolved governments are set to announce a plan for how families can meet this Christmas by the end of the week.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to lay out his “winter Covid plan” to MPs on Monday (November 23).
He will be setting out the restrictions replacing England-wide lockdown on December 2, and how people can celebrate the festive period together.
Michael Gove met with the First Minister of Scotland and Wales, and the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland on Saturday to discuss shared arrangements for the festive period.
A government spokesperson said "good progress" was made by all administrations to design a single set of arrangements that can apply across the UK.
Ministers endorsed a shared objective of facilitating "some limited additional household bubbling for a small number of days", but also emphasised that the public will be advised to remain cautious, and that wherever possible people should avoid travelling and minimise social contact.
Several households – potentially three – could be allowed to create a bubble temporarily between December 22 and 28, with the plans covering all four nations of the UK, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Restrictions on church services are also due to be lifted allowing Christmas Day services to be held, the paper said.
But while plans have not yet been set out, ministers have made clear that the festive season will be different to normal.
In Northern Ireland, Ministers also recognised that people will want to see family and friends across the island of Ireland, and this is the subject of discussions with the Irish Government.
Ministers also reiterated the importance of allowing families and friends to meet in a careful and limited way, while recognising that this will not be a normal festive period and the risks of transmission remain very real.
The government say work is continuing to finalise the arrangements, including relating to travel.
A spokesperson said: "The UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive hope to conclude this work this week, subject to agreement by each administration."
