NHS facing 'perfect storm' as Scotland's hospitals working near capacity

Jeane Freeman outlined the timetable as she confirmed another 2,160 positive infections and 61 deaths in a single day. Freeman said tests will be offered for home carers without symptoms from Monday next week, ahead of an earlier March timescale.

Ayr's busiest roads will face three months of disruption when gas works kick off next week.The project to upgrade the network in the town's Main Road "needs to go ahead now, rather than wait until the pandemic passes," bosses at Scottish Gas said.Work begins on the main artery into the town from this Monday, January 18 and is scheduled to last for 12 weeks.A spokesman said: "We have agreed with South Ayrshire Council to carry out this necessary work during the lockdown to minimise disruption to

Kemar Roofe will be out for two weeks after after an injury to his quad muscle in the 1-0 win over Celtic on Saturday. The striker has been in superb form with 12 goals and two assists in 22 appearances for the club since his £4m move from Belgian side Anderlecht.

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.NHS Lanarkshire is getting ready to vaccinate those aged 80 years of age and over as it rolls out the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine into GP and community settings from January 11.With mainland Scotland now in lockdown, Mark Russell, Associate Medical Director from NHS Lanarkshire today reminded those eligible who will be invited in the coming weeks, that getting the COVID-19 vaccine is a permissible

Kemar Roofe will be out for two weeks after after an injury to his quad muscle in the 1-0 win over Celtic on Saturday.The striker has been in superb form with 12 goals and two assists in 22 appearances for the club since his £4m move from Belgian side Anderlecht.The Englishman has excelled as a number nine or playing either side of a central striker with his versatility and ability to drop into space causing havoc in opposing defences.He is likely to miss Scottish Premiership matches against

mutated variant will not be as easy to control. The strain was only detected in south-east England last month but is now responsible for half of all new cases in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon has made another personal plea to Scots to stay away from loved ones to help stem the spread of coronavirus. The First Minister urged families to forsake the first-foot tradition as cases are "worryingly high".There were 2,539 new cases of the deadly virus reported in Scotland in the last 24 hours.Sturgeon tweeted: ":Today’s case numbers are worryingly high again."The new variant is accelerating spread.

Snow and ice could cause carnage as the worst winter freeze in 10 years is set to hit Scotland. A New Year yellow weather warning was issued north of the border ahead of a freezing Hogmanay.

Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that 42.8% of positive tests processed for Scotland are now thought to be the fast-spreading form of coronavirus, first detected earlier this month.

snow and ice later today, say forecasters. The Met Office has issued a snow and ice yellow weather warning for most parts of the country including the Lothians, Strathclyde, Grampian, Tayside and Fife.

Storm Bella will bring huge gales and heavy rain to the west of Scotland. Scots can expect winds of up to 70mph in exposed coastal areas and heavy downpours are also due across the country.

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.A family in Lothian are celebrating today after receiving the best Christmas gift they could have hoped for.First-time parents Kim, 33, and Donald Dallas, 32, from Edinburgh welcomed a very special delivery during the wee small hours of Christmas morning.The tot who hasn't been named, is known as baby Dallas.He was born at NHS Lothian's Birth Centre, part of the Simpson’s Centre for Reproductive Health at

weather has been dubbed Storm Bella, and the beast is set to arrive in Scotland on Boxing Day.Strong winds and heavy rain is forecast after Christmas and the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for the west of Scotland.The alert warns that persistent rainfall is likely to result in localised flooding of roads and properties and hazardous driving conditions.The warning area covers the the north-west of Glasgow, Perth and Kinross, Stirling, Highlands, Argyll and Bute and West

Scottish Government is making an additional £5 million available to students who are experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. From January, students across Scotland can apply to their college or university’s Discretionary Fund for help if they are struggling to meet accommodation and other costs.

Jason Leitch warned restrictions would be like in March when the UK ground to a halt for weeks. It follows alarm at strain of Covid-19 which appears to spread more quickly and has already ripped through south-east England.

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.A dad who died after being ambushed at a house in Clydebank was due to stand trial accused of taking part in an alleged gun attack.William “Billy” McGuire was charged with assaulting multiple occupants of a house in the Knightswood area of Glasgow during an early morning incident on October 3 last year.The 25-year-old was said to have covered his face with a mask before throwing bricks and glass bottles