Christmas Covid rules: Who are you allowed to see?

At Christmas, coronavirus restrictions will be eased to allow people to mix with a slightly wider circle of family and friends.

Across the UK, people will be able to form “bubbles” of three households over a five-day period, although health experts have urged people to think carefully about who they mix with.

Who can be in your Christmas bubble depend on where you are.

Between 23 and 27 December, the three households in a “Christmas bubble” can mix indoors and stay overnight.

Northern Ireland has a window of 22 to 28 December, to allow time to travel between the nations.

Bubbles can meet each other:

The bubbles will be fixed, so you cannot 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.

Other parts of the UK haven’t limited the number of people, although English guidance says it should be “as small as possible”.

The rules about what counts as a “household” also depends on where you are:

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 has to self-isolate.

Even if it is within the rules, meeting friends and family over Christmas will be a “personal judgement”, the government says.

And several scientists and health advisers have cautioned the public about the risks.

“From a public health perspective… I think this is a mistake,” public health expert Prof Linda Bauld told BBC Breakfast.

“Even though we’re permitted to do this, I think people have to think very carefully whether they can see loved ones outside or do it in a very, very modest way”.

Chris Hopson, the head of NHS Providers, agrees that it’s not just about sticking to the rules, but considering the risk we are causing others.

“Extra social contact over Christmas – particularly with those who are vulnerable to the virus – actually is very risky,” he says.

Travel restrictions will be lifted to allow people to visit their bubble anywhere in the UK.

But there will not be extra public transport laid on, so people are urged to plan their journeys in advance.

You cannot mix with your Christmas bubble in hospitality settings, such as pubs and restaurants, or at entertainment venues.

Suitable places include parks, beaches, open countryside and playgrounds.

Under-18s whose parents live apart can join two Christmas bubbles, so they can see both parents without being counted as part of another household.

University students who travel home will be counted as part of their family household straight away.

But if a family has three or more grown-up children not at university, they cannot all form a Christmas bubble with their parents.

Individual households can split for Christmas. So, if three people are sharing a home, they can all go and form separate Christmas bubbles with their families and come back to form a single household again afterwards.

However, more than a million coronavirus tests are being sent to care homes in England. This will allow family and friends to visit if they test negative, regardless of which tier they are in.

Residents should be able to receive up to two visitors twice a week, provided there hasn’t been an outbreak at the care home.