direct to your inboxFamilies across the UK have had to dramatically scale back their Christmas plans after the government introduced changes to restrictions.Plans to allow a five-day period of relaxations have been scrapped amid a rising number of infections in the south of England, which is believed to have been caused by a new highly transmissible strain of coronavirus.Health secretary Matt Hancock said the country was facing an “enormous challenge” in bringing the latest outbreak under control and that tough new restrictions may be needed for months to come.Millions of people in England have been put under new Tier 4 restrictions, which ban them from forming a Christmas bubble, while Scotland has introduced a travel ban and Wales has.