Scottish government website crashes moments after lockdown exit plan published

Nicola Sturgeon says risk of second infection wave ‘very real’

The website hosting the Scottish government’s lockdown exit plan has become unavailable just moments after the documents were published.

Attempting to open the page resulted in a “bad gateway” error message.

On Tuesday, the UK government's website designed to recruit fruit pickers crashed immediately after it was launched.

The twin crashes suggest there is a huge appetite for information among the British public about how coronavirus is affecting the country.

Nicola Sturgeon has been more cautious in her approach to relaxing restrictions than Westminster and confirmed on Thursday that she feared a second wave of Covid-19 infections should lockdown be eased too quickly. The risk was “very real”, she said.

The first minister said current hygiene measures should continue to be complied with, which she said would be the “biggest single factor in controlling the virus”. However, the new proposals set out on Thursday “cannot be set in stone”, she added.

The plan will be reviewed every three weeks, she said.

Its first phase of easing will begin on 28 May. People will be allowed to sit in parks with someone from one other household as long as they stay 2 metres apart.

Golf, tennis, bowls, fishing and other non-contact outdoor sports will resume, with players allowed to travel a short distance to take part.

Waste and recycling services, along with some outdoor businesses, can reopen in phase one, Ms Sturgeon told MSPs. Builders can also return to work.

A total of 2,221 people have now died with coronavirus in Scotland, up by 37 from 2,184 on Wednesday.