DEPUTY First Minister John Swinney has urged people not to travel to England to celebrate new-year as doing so would be going against the spirit of Scottish Covid-19 measures.

Covid-19 restrictions north of the border mean that night clubs have to close if dancing is permitted but they are still open in England.

Case numbers in Scotland hit record highs over the festive period, with Omicron now accounting for the majority of all infections.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has encouraged people to stay at home as much as possible, and to limit any social gatherings to no more than three households.

Edinburgh's traditional Hogmanay street party have been cancelled while indoor and outdoor events now have limitation on numbers.

No such restrictions are in place south of the border.

This morning Mr Swinney told BBC Breakfast that he would "discourage" anyone from travelling to England to see in the new year.

He said: "People are free to make their own judgments. But what we have got recognise is that Omicron is a serious threat to absolutely everybody within our society and we have all got to take measures to protect ourselves by limiting our social contacts and connections and by complying with the restrictions we have in place.

"I think it is the wrong course of action for people to take because we have a serious situation we have got to manage and we encourage everybody to play their part in addressing that."