Nicola Sturgeon ‘utterly scunnered and fed up’ with lockdown but sees ‘possible end in sight’

The most populated parts of Scotland, including Glasgow, Stirling and Lanarkshire, will move from Level 3 to Level 4 of the Scottish Government’s five-tier system at 6pm on Friday.

Across 11 council areas, non-essential shops, hospitality, gyms and hairdressers will be forced to close and people will be told to stay at home as much as possible.

A ban will also come into law restricting people in Level 3 and Level 4 areas from travelling outside of their council boundaries and on all Scots from entering other parts of the UK or Ireland.

Nicola Sturgeon has said she is fed up with lockdown.

But the First Minister said life could return to some semblance of normality by spring.

Speaking during Friday's Scottish Government daily coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon said: “These restrictions are difficult and we are all scunnered and fed up, and I’m not going to stand here and pretend otherwise because I feel that same sense of being utterly scunnered and fed up as the rest of you do,” she said.

“But we do now see a possible end in sight and I think it’s really important that we don’t forget that.”

The First Minister added: “There is a very real prospect for all of us of a substantially more normal way of life being returned to us by the time we reach the spring of next year.”

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