With Christmas Day fast approaching on Friday, the UK government has made amendments to the travel rules across England.
This now means that the tier you live in dictates where you can travel.
In what is a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the “new variant” detected, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this past weekend that the initially-announced plan – which allowed up to three households to form a ‘Christmas Bubble’ between 23rd – 27th December – will now be reduced to just a single date – 25th December.
It also comes as all of London and other parts of the South East of England have now been placed into Tier 4 restrictions, which has put a significant halt on travel and Christmas plans.
Residents of all tiers however have been told by the UK government that: “You should stay local and avoid travelling outside of your local area, meaning your village or town, or part of a city, where possible. People should continue to travel for reasons such as work, education, medical attention or caring responsibilities.”
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But for one day, these rules will be lifted to allow for households to meet to celebrate the festivities.
Those in some tiers will be allowed to travel to other parts of the UK, but this is subject to which tier the area they live in is under.
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Here’s everything you need to know.
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Tier 1 & Tier 2
Three households can still meet up to celebrate Christmas on 25th December.
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This means that the current Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions – which prevent people from meeting indoors with those from outside their household – will be scrapped for 24 hours on Christmas Day only, however residents in these tiers cannot see anyone from a Tier 4 area.
All Christmas bubbles must be exclusive.
This means that if three separate households meet up on Christmas Day, none of the groups can then see anyone else from other households, however the government says you should think very carefully about the risks and only form a Christmas bubble if you feel you absolutely need to.
Wherever possible, residents are encouraged to discuss alternatives to meeting up in person.
Residents of Tier 3 locations or lower who choose to form a Christmas bubble (of up to three households), are encouraged by the government and health professionals to carefully consider the risks of travelling at all.
If you live in an area with the highest level of restrictions, you should avoid travelling to lower prevalence areas where possible, but should you decide you do need to travel, you are asked to make travel plans in advance – including booking for public transportation services – to enable you and others to travel safely, and plan your outward and return journeys carefully.
You must only travel and return on Christmas Day.
Tier 4
You must not visit or leave a Tier 4 area in order to see others at any point during the Christmas period.
Households in Tier 4 areas will not be allowed to mix – except for already-formed support bubbles – and people are only permitted to meet one person from another household in outdoor public spaces.
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Restrictions will not be relaxed on Christmas Day.
Should anybody be found breaking the rules in a Tier 4 location, the police can take action against you.
This includes breaking up illegal gatherings and issuing fines. You can be given a Fixed Penalty Notice of £200 for the first offence, doubling for further offences up to a maximum of £6,400, and if you hold, or are involved in holding, an illegal gathering of over 30 people, the police can issue fines of up to £10,000.
Travelling into Greater Manchester
As announced in a joint statement issued by Greater Manchester’s ten directors of public health yesterday, anyone who has travelled to Greater Manchester from Tier 4 areas – or Wales – for Christmas is being told to self-isolate for at ten days.
Anyone arriving to the city-region is urged to remain in whichever house they are staying at for that period, starting from Saturday 19th December.
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They are being warned not to have visitors over that time, including on Christmas Day, although people in the same house do not need to self-isolate unless anyone develops symptoms.
The UK government has ultimately advised that the safest way to celebrate Christmas will be to do so with your own household in your own home.
Scotland has banned all travel in and out of the country – meaning Christmas bubbles can only be formed within the Scottish borders – but Wales has allowed cross-border travel to meet with households in Christmas bubbles, however this will be limited by the fact that you will need to leave and return to your home on Christmas Day.
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For the latest information, guidance and support during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the UK, please do refer to official sources at gov.uk/coronavirus.
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Morrisons introduces new quiet hours to make stores less ‘overwhelming’ for shoppers
Emily Sergeant
Morrisons has decided to extend its popular ‘Quieter Hour’ across the UK to help make its stores less “overwhelming” for shoppers.
Introduced earlier this month to mark World Autism Acceptance Week, and in a bid to turn what can be a daunting task for many people into “a calmer and more enjoyable experience”, the supermarket chain has announced an extension to its already popular initiative by adding new ‘Quieter Hours’ during weekday afternoons.
In case you weren’t aware, Morrisons first introduced its Quieter Hour all the way back in July 2018, and has been welcoming people who may struggle supermarket shopping environments through its doors ever since.
The initiative – which initially took place between 9am and 10am on a Saturday, and for the first hour of trade on a Sunday – originally began as part of the National Autistic Society’s ‘Autism Hour campaign’, after it was found that some neurodiverse people, including those with autism, can find shopping in a supermarket “overwhelming”.
Morrisons has introduced new quiet hours to make stores less ‘overwhelming’ for shoppers / Credit: Morrisons
Supermarkets can lead many people to experience increased sensitivity to light and sound, such as loud music, bright lights, and busy environments, and in turn, this can cause anxiety or, in some of the worst cases, even physical pain.
But now, after the trial has proved to be so successful and well-received, Morrisons has made the decision to extended the initiative to weekdays too, as well as weekends – with ‘Quieter Hours’ now also running every week from Monday to Thursday between 2-3pm.
The company says the extension is all with the aim of “helping even more customers”.
During ‘Quieter Hours’, Morrisons stores operate lower levels of lighting, turn music and radios off, avoid making tannoy announcements, reduce movement of trolleys and baskets, and turn checkout beeps and other electrical noises down.
“The weekly shop can be a daunting task for those who may struggle with noises associated with it,” commented Charlotte Exell, who is the Business Sponsor of Ability at Morrisons.
“At Morrisons, we are always looking for more ways to support customers, and as the Quieter Hour is incredibly popular in our stores across the nation, we have listened to customers and will now help more shoppers in our extended times.”
Featured Image – Morrisons
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Freddos are on sale for 10p at UK supermarkets for the first time in nearly 20 years
Emily Sergeant
It’s happening… it’s finally happening.
We never thought we’d see this again, but for the first time in nearly two whole decades, you can now walk into supermarkets across the UK and pick yourself up a Cadbury Freddo for the price of just 10p.
While it may sound a little too good to be true, due to the fact that the beloved chocolate treat has been creeping up in price for the past 19 years, and has very much gone onto become a classic British reference point for the state of inflation and the rising cost of living crisis, we couldn’t be happier to confirm it is.
But, of course, there is a bit of catch (because isn’t there always).
For anyone looking to get their hands on a slashed-price Freddo – which we imagine will be the vast majority of people reading this – you unfortunately won’t be able to pop into any supermarket, as the 10p offer is exclusive to Sainsbury’s and you’ll need a Nectar card to be eligible for it too.
The caption of the now-viral post reads: “Some things from the mid 2000s should NEVER come back, but this is not one of them.
“Head to any Sainsbury’s superstore to pick up a Freddo for just 10p with your nectar card.”
Sadly, not only is this unmissable Freddo offer exclusive to Sainsbury’s for Nectar card-holders, it’s also only available in Sainsbury’s superstores too, meaning you won’t be able to find the cheap frog-shaped chocolate bars in little Sainsbury’s Local outlets.
The offer is also only for a very limited time too, as it’s available to make the most of from today (17 April) up until next Tuesday 23 April.
Freddos are on sale for 10p at Sainsbury’s for the first time in nearly 20 years / Credit: Sainsbury’s | The Manc Group
Thankfully, Freddos are the only chocolate treats that Sainsbury’s has slashed the price of currently.
As a way of celebrating the iconic confectionary company‘s 200th birthday this year, the supermarket has also put offers on a wide range of other products.
Dairy Milk bars, multipacks of Fudge, Curly Wurlys, and Flakes, Dairy Milk Trays, Chocolate Finger biscuits, and Mini Roll cake bars are the other much-loved Cadbury products currently on sale with up to 30% off their marked price.
Rachel Clark, who is the Director of Grocery for Sainsbury’s, said on the supermarket’s current Cadbury offers: “We’re delighted to be celebrating such an iconic moment for Cadbury, and its milestone of 200 years as a loved chocolate brand. We know that our customers love Cadbury so we’re very excited to be offering market-leading prices across selected Cadbury products, with savings of up to 60% off with Nectar Prices.”
The Manc -
22nd December 2020 
