SCHOOLS in Scotland and Wales are to close from the end of this week, it was announced today.

In a briefing in Edinburgh, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon conceded that closures were now inevitable, with a number of schools across Scotland already closed due to staff shortages.

The Welsh government said that it too would be closing schools, promising that sites would be repurposed in order to help “people in need” as well as those “involved in the immediate response” to the outbreak.