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Barbecues in sun with one other household, golf, hiking & fast food allowed but stay 2 metres apart

- Vivienne Aitken

Barbecues in the sun with friends, golf and drive-through food outlets re-opening are among the first steps Scots will be allowed to take as the country begins to ease out of lockdown from today.

But the Scottish Government is maintaining its sex ban between people from different households and has ordered that no-one can travel to tourist hot-spots for recreation.

The relaxing of restrictions comes as Scotland is set to sizzle over the next few days, with temperatures hitting 29C in some parts of the country.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was “nervous” about the “careful and cautious changes” she announced yesterday.

And she said she would be “looking at photographs on social media and on television over the weekend to make sure people are not acting outwith the spirit of this guidance”.

She unveiled a raft of measures to ease restrictions based on outdoor activity and said: “As long as people from different households remain two metres apart, don’t touch the same surfaces and wash hands and surfaces regularly, the risk of the virus spreading in an outdoor environment is lower than it is indoors.”

She added: “Of course we want to start the economy as quickly as possible but we have also got to keep very firmly in mind the things that matter most to our quality of life – family, friendship, love.”

From today, households will be able to meet another outside, in a park or a private garden. But only two households should meet up at a time and should be in maximum groups of eight.