Covid: Will families be able to spend Christmas together this year?
With England's new lockdown due to end just weeks before Christmas, there are growing concerns about whether families across the UK will be able to spend the festive period together this year.
The month-long lockdown is being reviewed on December 2, and while Boris Johnson insists he will "seek to ease restrictions" on that day, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said the measures could be extended if data shows the infection rate has not fallen enough.
With different rules in place across the UK, families would be right to worry about whether their loved ones can travel home for Christmas.
It is still unclear what will be allowed at Christmas, but the UK government is hinting at a plan that may allow families to be together.
Following a Cobra meeting involving representatives from all four UK nations, a statement was released which said England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will "work together on a joint approach to the Christmas period".
Boris Johnson, when announcing the new lockdown in England, admitted Christmas could be "very different" this year, but added: "It is my sincere hope and belief that by taking tough action now we can allow families across the country to be together."
And two government scientists have provided another glimmer of hope that restrictions could be relaxed over the festive period so families can be together.
Under the current plan, when England's lockdown is relaxed, the rule of six will be reinforced across the country, meaning that people will only be able to have six people in their home at any one time.
If the lockdown in not relaxed ahead of Christmas, plans for extended family gatherings will be crushed by the ban on all indoor cross household mixing.
But Professor Neil Ferguson, whose modelling was instrumental in the decision to impose the first lockdown, said that driving infection levels down "substantially" could see measures relaxed over Christmas.
"If we can drive infection levels down substantially, then we'll be in a better position to relax things over Christmas than if they are still at the current levels," he told Times Radio Breakfast.
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, whose nation is currently in a short lockdown, says he is "confident" that infection levels are being brought down enough to avoid another lockdown at Christmas.
"By doing everything we're doing, and provided we behave in the right way after the lockdown, we are confident that we can get through to Christmas without needing to go through this again," he said.
And Nicola Sturgeon is considering new measures in Scotland in order to create a "bit more breathing space over the Christmas period".
After it was announced that an 80% furlough scheme was being extended across the UK for the month of England's lockdown, Ms Sturgeon said: "The decision we have to weigh up in coming days is this one - should we take the opportunity of more generous financial support to step harder on the brakes now, to try to drive infection rates down faster and more firmly?
"The potential benefit of that would be suppressing Covid further and faster, at a time when financial support is available and possibly - I don't want to overstate this - but possibly opening up a bit more breathing space over the Christmas period. "
On Sunday another of the government's scientific advisers said tight restrictions put in place before Christmas could allow them to be loosened later in December.
A member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), Sir Jeremy Farrar told the BBC: "It would be much better to extend this lockdown for another couple of weeks prior to the Christmas period - and then loosen the restrictions a little bit over Christmas so that people can meet up with their families.
"Much better to do that than remove these restrictions and then have to impose even more draconian restrictions over Christmas or soon into the New Year."
Ministers have told the Times of a plan to relax some coronavirus restrictions at Christmas to allow families to be together, amid concerns that people will break the rules anyway.
When asked about a plan for Christmas, the prime minister's spokesman said it won't be "normal" this year, but there are "hopes" people can spend time together.
With Hanukkah taking place from December 10 to 18, Jewish families will be hopeful they can spend the festival together, but those who celebrate Diwali on November 14 will unfortunately have to adjust any plans to socialise.