Christmas Day plans have been ruined for many families across the country this week after new rules were brought in last minute.
Original rules for the festive period saw a five-day period where restrictions were relaxed and people could meet with up to three other households from December 23-27.
However, due to a new strain that is believed to be most concentrated in the South East and causing a surge there - this has now all changed.
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, reports Manchester Evening News.
The plans, however, have caused questions about New Year's Eve into New Year's Day.
Due to these new restrictions, you can only form a Christmas bubble if you do not live in a Tier 4 area and only for Christmas Day.
Meaning New Year plans are out of the window.
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.
