These are the toughest restrictions Scotland has faced since the lockdown of March 2020.

It is - once again - becoming compulsory to stay at home except for essential purposes like food shopping, exercise and medical care.

The extended closure of schools to most pupils is something the Scottish government was particularly keen to avoid.

These decisions are a measure of how worried ministers are about the rapid spread of the new variant of coronavirus, which is fast becoming the dominant strain.

With 225 cases per 100,000 people, Scotland is thought to be about four weeks behind London, which already has four times as many cases and NHS services under considerable pressure.

The Scottish government believes that without further action the NHS here would run out of beds for Covid patients within a month.

This new alert comes at the start of a new year which also brings new hope for a route out of the pandemic with two vaccines now beginning to offer protection.

Around 100,000 doses have already been administered in Scotland but it is likely to take several months to reach all in the most vulnerable groups. Read the latest news here. : slotxo