Officials have warned revellers in Scotland and Wales to think twice before travelling to England to ring in the new year, highlighting how the four parts of the UK were again taking starkly different approaches to coronavirus restrictions amid record-high infections and soaring hospitalisations, according to AP.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted tightening restrictions in England despite the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, instead of focusing on frequent self-testing and an expanded vaccine booster program to control the spread of infections.

Meanwhile, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which set their own public health rules, imposed new restrictions this week that closed all nightclubs and limited social gatherings.