At Christmas, coronavirus restrictions will be eased to allow people to mix with a slightly wider circle of family and friends.
Between 23 and 27 December, three households in a “Christmas bubble” can mix indoors and stay overnight. Bubbles will be allowed to meet each other in each other’s homes, at a place of worship or in an outdoor public space, or garden
The bubbles will be fixed, so you will not be able to mix with two households on Christmas Day and two different ones on Boxing Day. Households in your Christmas bubble can’t bubble with anyone else.
There will be no limit to the number of people who can join a bubble, although the guidance says it should be “as small as possible”.
If you have formed a support bubble with another household, that counts as one household, so you can join with two other households in a Christmas bubble.
People who are self-isolating should not join a Christmas bubble. If someone tests positive, or develops coronavirus symptoms up to 48 hours after the Christmas bubble last met, everyone will have to self-isolate.
For households with people who are clinically vulnerable or extremely so, the Government is urging caution and asking people not to take unnecessary risks in exposing relatives, who may become very ill if they catch the disease.