Scots urged to stay at home for Hogmanay

All the major Hogmanay events in Edinburgh have been cancelled, as have many other events in towns and cities across the country.

On Thursday, Scotland recorded its highest ever number of Covid cases, with 16,857 cases confirmed.

But Scotland's first minister said the country could look forward to a "better and brighter new year ahead".

However, she said there was still a "very significant threat" posed by Omicron.

'Stay at home'

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accepted that coronavirus restrictions meant that this was "not the Hogmanay we all wanted and hoped for".

She said: "The Omicron variant is a very significant threat. It means that, at the moment, we need above all to keep each other safe.

"We all need to stay at home, far more than we would want to at this time of year. And we have asked that you minimise new year socialising as much as you can.

 "So this is not the Hogmanay we all wanted and hoped for. But I believe that we can still look ahead to 2022 with optimism."