UK ministers set to meet to discuss planned restrictions over Christmas period
Ministers from all four UK nations will meet today to discuss plans for allowing families to reunite for Christmas.
A Cobra meeting is being held in the hope of reaching a four-nation approach to the festive period, which Wales' health minister Vaughan Gething said was "vital for clarity'.
It is believed that First Minister Mark Drakeford and Scotland's Nicola Sturgeon will be involved in negotiations at the meeting at 4pm.
Whilst addressing the nation on Monday evening, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged the risks involved in a Christmas relaxation, saying it is the "season to be jolly careful".
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said there could be a "slight and careful" easing of the rules for a few days, while Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething suggested that tough measures to control the virus before Christmas could allow "more headroom for the festive season".
Speaking at a Welsh Government press conference on Monday, Mr Gething also confirmed that ministers were considering a "more common approach to measures" to help facilitate travel arrangements between countries.
"We will be thinking over the next week of whether we do need to have common approaches as far as possible," he said.
"We will think about how we ask people to go about living their lives and that may mean some changes.
"This comes as England come to the end of their four-week lockdown to give us all the headroom we want to give us the Christmas we want to have together, but to do so in a way that keeps as many of us as safe as possible".
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has urged people to "look very carefully" at how they will go home for Christmas - and even consider not travelling to help further control the spread of the virus.
"We have got to understand there are limitations to the (train) network caused by, for example, things like the need on some trains to pre-book tickets at this time, in order to prevent overcrowding," he told the BBC.
"So we are going to be appealing to people to look very carefully at the transport route they take and of course even making a choice about whether they travel at all."
In England, the Government has already announced new tiered restrictions which will come into effect on December 2 and could last until the end of March - apart from any Christmas relaxation.
On Thursday, people in England will find out which tier they are being placed in once the lockdown ends.
More regions than before the lockdown are expected to face Tier 2 or Tier 3 restrictions with Wales expected to be placed under extra restrictions from December 2 when England’s new restrictions begin.
They would be Wales-wide, not regional, and similar to the tier 3 rules that exist in England.
The UK Government has been accused of talking up the closeness of a decision. Over the weekend reports suggested that the Prime Minister would announce the UK-wide decision on Monday. The devolved governments have resisted that timetable. The PM’s spokesman would only say that “we're working with the devolved nations to agree a plan to allow families to meet up over Christmas. That work is ongoing.”