Scottish football and rugby clubs are on a Scottish government exemption list that states "those involved in professional sports, for training, coaching or competing in an event" are among the groups those allowed to leave their homes.

Scotland's new lockdown will last for at least the rest of January.

Sturgeon, the leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), said a new faster spreading variant of coronavirus, first identified in the UK in December had been a "massive blow" in the battle against the virus.

Sturgeon's announcement came as Britain began rolling out a new Covid-19 vaccine developed by the drug manufacturer AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

Reigning Scottish football champions Celtic defended their controversial warm-weather training trip to Dubai by saying it had government approval.

The Hoops flew to the Middle East on Saturday following a derby defeat by Rangers that left them a huge 19 points adrift of their arch Glasgow rivals in the race for the Scottish Premiership title.

The Scottish government responded by calling for a Scottish Football Association investigation into whether Celtic had breached coronavirus exemptions. 

But, in a series of tweets issued Monday, Celtic defended their position by saying: "If the club had not received Scottish Government approval then we would not have travelled."