Paul Russell, owner of the Bank Bar in Dundee city centre, says he felt “some trepidation” ahead of reopening. His customers have other thoughts.

Most of mainland Scotland is easing restrictions today as they move into level two, while Moray and Glasgow remain in level three.

“You can safely say most of them were looking forward to getting back, having a pint,” Paul says.

“More people want to get out and speak to people and have that engagement again.

“If you can provide a safe environment for people to come in, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

He says providing a takeaway food service during lockdown has kept the pub in touch with its regulars.

“It’s been very, very difficult,” he says. “We are a bit of a community pub, we do a lot of fundraising for charity."

Not enough Indian variant data for government to stand by deadlinespublished at 14:54 British Summer Time 17 May 2021

14:54 BST 17 May 2021

Greg Dawson
BBC political correspondent

Just a week ago Prime Minister Boris Johnson stood at the podium in Downing Street and talked of his hopes that the government would be able to update businesses by the end of May on the future social distancing rules.

That commitment is already looking shaky.

It is an indication of just how seriously the government views the emergence of the Indian variant that Downing Street today admitted that deadline could slip.

An expected update for when weddings would be able to resume as normal also looks to be on hold - the prime minister’s original intention was to give people 28 days' notice ahead of the planned 21 June re-opening.

The government has been adamant for months that it wants this lockdown to be the last.

However, it has repeatedly said it wants to be guided by “data and not dates” and at the moment, there simply isn’t enough data on how serious the Indian variant could be - and how quickly it is spreading within the UK - for the government to confidently stand by previously stated deadlines.

Image source, Getty Images

Local areas should not vaccinate young people earlier than planned to stem the spread of the variant of coronavirus which was first discovered in India, Downing Street says.

The prime minister's official spokesman says the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) believes the best way to protect against the new variant is to ensure vulnerable groups get their second dose.

The spokesman says thousands of additional jabs have been deployed in Bolton "so they can do this work of getting vaccinations to people".

It comes after London Mayor Sadiq Khan called for young people in areas with high numbers of cases of the Indian Covid variant to be given a jab sooner.

Downing Street also says concerns about the spread of the variant of coronavirus first identified in India are not confined to people unable or unwilling to take a vaccine but also to those who have had a jab but are still vulnerable.

In a worst-case scenario, where the variant is far more transmissible than the existing UK strain, there would be a situation where those for whom vaccine efficacy is reduced would be at risk of catching the virus, the spokesman says.

"That would then lead to increased hospitalisations and put unsustainable pressure on our NHS. That's the situation we are attempting to avoid here," he says.

The latest figures on shopping activity across the UK confirm many people are still not being attracted back to the shops even though other attractions like cafes are operating more freely.

In the hours up to 12:00 today, the number of people visiting shops in all UK destinations was down by 3.5% compared with the same time on Monday 10 May, an even bigger fall than at 10:00.

The figures from data specialist Springboard show retail parks and shopping centres fared worst, with footfall down by 4.3% in both, while shopping on UK high streets was 2.7% lower.

Shoppers in Scotland seem to be especially reluctant to go out, with the number of people out and about in the shops down by 7.1% compared with last week.

Again the starkest picture is painted by drawing a comparison with the same day and time in 2019, before the pandemic. Those figures show that visitors to all shopping destinations were down by 27.9%.

Image source, Getty Images

It's not just pubs and restaurants reopening inside in Wales today, other indoor venues - cinemas, museums, galleries and visitor attractions - are also opening their doors.

It also means its eyes down - bingo is back.

It's an industry worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year in Wales, with 36 dedicated bingo halls still operating across the country.

And in the seaside resort of Rhyl - the bingo loving punters were ready and waiting to return to the town's Apollo Bingo Hall, as it reopened on Monday.

Image source, Getty Images

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Image source, PA Media

The founder of Pret a Manger, Julian Metcalfe, says it's still "agony" for the hospitality industry despite Covid restrictions easing across much of the UK.

Metcalfe - who sold his final stake in Pret in 2018 and now owns 54% of the sushi chain Itsu - tells BBC Radio 4's The World at One the opening up of much of society was "such a relief for many of us" but criticised the uncertainty caused by the changing of rules and regulations.

"We're opening up, but not really," he says. "We still have 20 Itsus that are completely shut because of the uncertainty, and the uncertainty just goes on and on.

"It's very difficult for the hospitality sector, it's just agony."

He says there are major staffing issues for many companies in the industry, particularly among the smaller firms.

Lunchtime Live
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Jean O'Reilly

While many businesses across mainland Scotland are celebrating the easing of restrictions today as they move into level two, Moray and Glasgow remain stuck in level three.

Katie Moody is head of marketing for the Princes Square shopping centre in Glasgow and she expected it to be a grand reopening today.

“We were very excited on Friday, we were getting everything prepared, making sure we were all organised and then Friday evening... we couldn’t be more devastated, it’s a hard blow.

"A number of our restaurants weren’t opening until today, because a lot of our restaurants don’t make money just on the food, the money comes from the alcohol element, that’s where the margin is.

"We also had our cinema to give us the full Princes Square experience, they were fully booked and yet today that had to be closed down again."

She says: "We’re absolutely nowhere near where we should be… it’s not the same as what it used to be and now that people can’t come into Glasgow city centre we’ll be down again.

"This was an opportunity for us that sadly can’t happen."

Image source, PA Media

Here are your main coronavirus headlines this lunchtime:

• Lockdown rules have eased in England, Wales and most of Scotland, with pubs and restaurants able to serve customers indoors, and social distancing guidelines have been relaxed
• Downing Street says a planned review of social distancing measures due to take place this month could be delayed due to the spread of the Covid variant first found in India
• Thousands of British holidaymakers have begun taking advantage of the easing of lockdown rules on overseas travel
• More than 6,200 people were vaccinated in Bolton at the weekend amid concerns over the Covid-19 variant first discovered in India
• GCSE, AS and A-Level exams in Northern Ireland will take place again in the 2021/22 school year
• Non-essential retail has been allowed to re-open in the Republic of Ireland for the first time since December
• The international scheme to ensure equal access to Covid-19 vaccines is 140 million doses short because of India's continuing Covid crisis
• India has begun distributing a new locally-developed drug to treat Covid-19 symptoms
• Thailand has seen its highest number of daily Covid cases, with the majority of the new infections stemming from the country's overcrowded prisons

Rachel Schraer
BBC Health Reporter

Image source, Getty Images

There are rule changes in place from today in England, Scotland and Wales - but with the changing situation, how can you reduce your risk of catching the virus?

Well, one thing you can actually stop doing if you choose to is the "pavement dance" of trying to avoid passing too close to fellow pedestrians.

It's highly unlikely such a short period of exposure would lead to an infection, especially outdoors.

We can also remember the benefits of fresh air - so keeping areas well-ventilated when inside with others.

Good airflow dilutes and blows away droplets and disperses aerosols, making it less likely you'll inhale enough to become ill.

And crucially, getting your vaccine when you can is key.

Read more here.

Image source, PA

Like pubs and cafes, theatres are allowed - in theory at least - to welcome back punters as of today.

Theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, however, has just told the BBC that he re-opened "precisely none" of his seven venues on Monday.

"The shows that are in my theatres are shows that can't play to 50% audience because they'd just be too costly," he told Radio 4's The World at One.

"But in any event, Frozen doesn't open until the end of August, and my Cinderella, that is going to have its world premiere on 14 July if we're lucky, so that wouldn't be open anyway.

"But it is just, I'm afraid, a fact that most musicals can't play to 50% capacity."

He added that it was "absolutely critical" for those working in his industry that the government sticks to its proposed date of 21 June for the scrapping of all coronavirus restrictions.

"I'd say to everybody, please support theatre and please support live music," he urged.

"It's a heartbeat of the country and it's essential - support your theatre everywhere and get vaccinated."

A planned review of social distancing measures due to take place this month could be delayed due to the spread of the Indian Covid variant, Downing Street says.

The PM's official spokesman says: "We want to do it as soon as possible but... we need time to assess the latest data on this variant first identified in India so I'm not going to give a set time for doing that.

"We want to do everything possible to give people enough time to prepare."

The review of the measures - and the possible use of coronavirus status certification - had been expected by the end of May.

Last week, Boris Johnson said that the government would be saying more "later this month about exactly what the world will look like and what role there could be - if any - for certification and social distancing".

The spokesman also says the government has not ruled out a return to local restrictions, like the tiered system that was in place last year.

"I think until we have more data and more evidence, we won't be making those judgements," he adds.

Laurence Cawley
BBC News

Dancing Queen, 17. For Bingo fans 17 May has finally arrived, meaning they can once again step inside their beloved halls and get their eyes down on the cards.

The BBC is at a Bingo hall in Great Yarmouth finding out what a post-lockdown game looks like and what it means to those taking part.

Patrick Duffy, managing director at The Palace, says: "We've had hundreds of phone calls and the relief with people is incredible.

"There was so much sadness when we closed. People were very worried and concerned. Everybody is very enthusiastic.

"The bulk of our customers are regulars. We know nearly every customer and often their children and grandchildren as well."

Image source, DANNY LAWSON / PA MEDIA

Image source, OWEN HUMPHREYS / PA MEDIA

Image source, JANE BARLOW / PA MEDIA

Image source, DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP

You can view more pictures in our gallery here.

The National Youth Choir of Scotland has performed together for the first time in 14 months.

The choir sang Josh Groban’s You Raise Me Up at Edinburgh’s Calton Hill live on BBC Breakfast. You can see them perform in the video above.

Choirs can sing outdoors across most of Scotland for the first time since March 2020, as Covid restrictions ease in most of the country - apart from Glasgow and Moray.

Pubs and restaurants have already been open outdoors for five weeks in England, along with non-essential shops and hairdressers.

At Christmas last year those of us in the worst-affected Tier 4 areas were not allowed to meet with more than one person from another household outdoors.

Citymapper data from England’s biggest cities suggests that people are moving around much more than they were around the time of the lockdown announcement.

We know that seasonal weather change has an impact on how successfully the virus is able to spread, and the sacrifices made by the British people in locking down also slowed transmission.

But we can’t talk about the difference between now and January without mentioning the incredible scientific and logistical success of the vaccine rollout.

We weren’t getting regular vaccine data on 4 January, but on 10 January 2.3 million Brits had received a first dose of a vaccine. Fewer than 400,000 had had both doses.

Now, more than 20 million have been fully vaccinated and 36 million have the protection that comes with the first dose – that’s more than two-thirds of adults.

Daniel Dunford
BBC data journalism team

Across three of the main measures that we, and the government, use to assess the state of the coronavirus pandemic – that’s cases, hospitalisations and deaths – the UK is in an unrecognisably better place now than it was when this lockdown started in England just four days into the New Year.

Cases are down by more than 95%, hospitalisations by 96%, and – most importantly - deaths by nearly 99%.

And this comes in the context of a country that has already started to unlock, compared to one where large parts of it were under the Tier 4 restrictions that immediately preceded the January lockdown.

Image source, Bex Main

Bex Main, a church administrator from Redhill in Surrey, has not seen her parents since Christmas 2019.

This week she’ll be able to finally go to their home in Devon for a visit, as the new rules allow overnight stays and groups of up to six to mix indoors.

"Devon is a long way away and so I could never pop and see them even when restrictions eased last summer," says Bex, who spent last Christmas Day alone because of the restrictions.

"My parents have now had both jabs and as I have been volunteering at a vaccination centre I'm about to have my second jab, which does put my mind at ease in seeing them.

"I'm so excited to travel down after 17 May when I'll be allowed to see them, hug them and stay overnight and have some normal family time.

"I do feel blessed."

Dominic Hughes
Health correspondent

Image source, Reuters

In Bolton, a big push to get more people vaccinated is bearing fruit.

Over the weekend more than 6,200 people received the jab for the first time. But health officials know that take-up of the vaccine in some parts of the town is lower than the national average.

They are targeting around 10,000 people who are eligible for a jab but have yet to come forward. And they reject the charge that they are flouting the national rules on who can get vaccinated.

In February the JCVI – the committee that sets the guidelines for the UK’s vaccination rollout – announced factors other than just health and age could be taken into account.

So deprivation, ethnicity and living in a multi-generational household with older, vulnerable relatives could mean that younger people are eligible.

This is not bending the rules, local leaders say. Rather, it is exactly what the rules are for.

The latest easing of restrictions doesn’t seem to have prompted more people to get out to visit the shops – so far at least.

According to a count done at 10:00 BST, the number of people visiting shops overall was down by 3.2% compared with the same time on Monday 10 May.

When the figures are broken down, they show footfall on high streets was 3% lower, while retail parks saw a 2.6% fall in shoppers and shopping centres a drop of 4.2%.

However, compared with before the pandemic the figures make even more depressing reading.

The number of people going into shops on high streets was down by 42%, compared with the equivalent Monday in 2019, 31.2% lower in shopping centres and 5.1% down in retail parks. That means overall footfall to all shopping destinations was 30.5% lower.

The figures were put together by specialist data firm Springboard, which tracks how many customers are visiting stores across the UK.

Simon Browning
Business Reporter

Image source, Simon Browning

Here we are at 35,000 feet. We’ve left the UK behind, some of the first to do so in months, and in 20 minutes we’ll be on European soil. It'll be our first time there since we left the EU so we’ll be having our passports stamped in Portugal.

There’s a lot of excitement on board. There are couples going to second homes, families going in groups with grandchildren and young couples like Greg and Harriet, who can’t wait to get to the pool this afternoon and just chill out somewhere that’s not their own house.

I've been reporting on the effects of Covid on travel since the start of the pandemic. I’ve stood at Stansted when it’s only had six flights in a day, and at Heathrow when terminals were empty and desks closed.

Today there was atmosphere, movement, energy. People are travelling again.

It is a slow restart - let’s be under no illusion there. But it’s what aviation businesses such as airports and airlines are desperate for and they’ll be hoping people at home see those who are travelling and join them in the skies soon.