THREE households could be allowed to mix over Christmas for up to five days as part of a relaxing of strict coronavirus rules. 

It’s understood the plan is being considered by the Scottish and Welsh governments and could be signed off today and announced tomorrow. 

On Sunday, the Cabinet Office said ministers from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had endorsed a "shared objective of facilitating some limited additional household bubbling for a small number of days".

The possibility of leeway is controversial, with some public health experts warning that it could have significant consequences. 

Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, told BBC Good Morning Scotland: "Many of us would wish to see our older relatives at Christmas, and we know that mortality from Covid-19 is significantly higher for older people – I think around 86% of deaths in hospital occurred in people over the age of 65 – so this is concerning.

"At the moment we still have levels of infection in the community across the UK that are higher than we would wish.

"If we come together with people from different households at the time of year when the windows are closed, the people you care about, physical distancing is difficult, it is an opportunity for the virus to spread, so this is really really tough."

Bauld said that, in planning whether people can meet over the festive period, governments may also be concerned about mental health, with levels of depression and anxiety significantly higher than expected for the time of year due to the pandemic.

"This discussion is about trying to recognise that there are not only harms from the virus, there are other harms, people want to see their loved ones," she said.

She added that, even if restrictions are eased, people should make their own decisions about what they feel comfortable doing.

"It is up to us to decide, even if government says 'OK, you can get together indoors with other people', let's all make our own risk assessment about the people we care about and ourselves and say how are we going to apply that to our own personal circumstances.

"So I think, as with everything throughout this pandemic, it has got to be a partnership between guidance and support that government gives and what people decide to do for themselves and for their families."

Speaking at the Scottish Government’s daily coronavirus briefing last week, the First Minister said: “I want people to have the ability to see loved ones at Christmas. I want to see loved ones at Christmas. And we’re determined to try to make that possible.”

But, she added, it had to be done in the safest way possible: “I want to do that in a way that also minimises the risk of me standing at this podium in late January, reporting really horrible numbers of people who have died because of infections that we’ve picked up over the Christmas period.

“Like so much with this virus we’re trying to strike the right balance.”

Sturgeon continued: “I do think at Christmas it is important that rather than leave people with restrictions that are so tight that many people will try to get around them in order to see loved ones, it is better to do what we’ve tried to do all along and treat people like grown-ups.

“Say, ‘okay here is perhaps a bit of leeway that as long as we all behave responsibly within it allows us to have some time with loved ones at Christmas.’

“Now what the parameters are around that, what the numbers around that are, there are no decisions, but we do want to allow people, and it will be within limits undoubtedly, to see people that right now they’re not able to see because of the very strict ban on household mixing.”