NICOLA Sturgeon has confirmed the new levels which will apply across Scotland as coronavirus restrictions are eased from tonight.

Most of Scotland is to move down a level from midnight after the First Minister confirmed the changes at a press conference this afternoon.

Glasgow, the only local authority area currently in Level 3 will move to Level 2 restrictions.

She also confirmed that the following areas will remain in Level 2:
Edinburgh
Midlothian
Dundee
East Dunbartonshire
Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire
North Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
East Ayrshire
North Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
Clackmannanshire
Stirling

Areas moving into Level 1 are: 
Highland 
Argyll & Bute
Aberdeen City
Aberdeenshire
Moray
Angus
Perth & Kinross
Falkirk
Inverclyde
Fife
East Lothian
West Lothian
West Dunbartonshire
Dumfries and Galloway
The Borders

Level 0
Shetland
Orkney
Western Isles

The latest changes to Scotland's mean that more rules around everyday life are set to ease, bringing people one step closer to normality. 

Under Level 2, people can meet indoors in restricted numbers, have visitors stay overnight and can have a drink in a pub or restaurant indoors.

The First Minister also announced the latest figures during a Scottish Government Covid briefing on Friday, warning that a new Delta variant was responsible for the rise in cases.

She revealed there have been 992 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Scotland in the past 24 hours, the highest number since February 17. 

According to Scottish Government statistics, there have been two new deaths in the same period. 

Eight people were in intensive care yesterday, with 116 in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19 - an increase in six in the past 24 hours - while two deaths were recorded among patients who had preveiously tested positive for covid in the last 28 days.

Of the  new tests for Covid-19 reported results – 3.9% were positive

Sturgeon added there was an indication that the vaccines are weakening the link between infections and hospitalisations.

The First Minister said that virus cases remained "very low" in rural and island communities but added there was at least one reported in every health board area yesterday.

She said "this virus isn't done with us yet" and urged all Scots to receive their first or second dose of a covid vaccine as soon as it is offered.

The First Minister said: “We are at a very critical juncture right now in what we still very much hope and believe is a transition to a less restrictive way of dealing with Covid, but the position we are in now on that transition is a fragile one.

“On the downside, as we can see, cases are rising again, they have more than tripled over the last month and today the more than 900 cases that have been reported is the highest number of new cases since the 17th of February.

“The R number is now estimated to be above 1, indeed many experts believe that not just Scotland but the UK is now at the start of a third wave of Covid.”

It comes as the UK regulators approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for 12 to 15 year-olds.

Yesterday, the Scottish Government announced that Portugal would be placed on the amber list from June 8, meaning those returning will have to self-isolate for 10 days at home.