From the second day of Christmas, Scotland will impose a lockdown, the Christmas relaxations will be lifted

From Boxing Day, Scotland will be back in lockdown – and the planned easing of restrictions at Christmas has been put on hold, said Nicola Sturgeon.

The First Minister said the measures were necessary to combat the new variant of the coronavirus.

The Christmas “bubble” policy has been abolished; contacts between households are only allowed on Christmas Day.

It was planned to ease measures across the UK between 23 and 27 December.

The travel ban between Scotland and other parts of the UK – except for essential travel – remains in place. Ms Sturgeon said she would speak to police and transport operators to consider how the ban could be “tightened”.

Across Scotland, Level 4 – the strictest of the country's five restriction levels – will apply from one minute after midnight on the morning of Boxing Day for three weeks.

Non-essential shops will be closed, as will cafes, restaurants and hairdressers.

Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and other island communities will be moved to Level 3.

Schools will open as usual for key teachers, but the majority of students will not return until January 11 and online classes will continue until at least January 18.

The First Minister said the move would prevent further parts of the new variant from entering Scotland from other parts of the UK and reduce the risk of it spreading within the country.

The new virus variant is the “most serious and potentially dangerous crisis” since the pandemic began, she said.

She said 17 cases of the new variant had been identified in Scotland, which may be leading to a faster spread of Covid in some hospitals and care homes.

Without decisive action, the new variant could overwhelm the British health service and cause more people to die from the virus, she said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already announced that the south-east of England will be moved to the new Tier 4 – which means that the November lockdown rules will de facto apply.

In the rest of England, the Christmas “bubble” rule – which allows meetings of up to three households during the holidays – will also be severely restricted and will only apply on Christmas Day.

Scotland has the lowest case rate in the UK, with 112.6 cases per 100,000 people.

For comparison: In Wales the figure is 571.7, in England 219.6 and in Northern Ireland 174.9.

In the last 24 hours, 41 coronavirus-related deaths and 572 positive tests were recorded north of the border, but the test positivity rate fell from 4.2% to 4.0%.