UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged people to keep Christmas celebrations "short" and "small" to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 over the festive period, BBC News reported.

Restrictions will still be relaxed between 23 and 27 December—but the PM said people should "think hard" before meeting friends and family.

Three households will be allowed to meet—apart from in Wales where a law change will allow just two households.

And in Scotland, people are being asked to only meet on one of the five days.

It comes as the UK recorded a further 25,161 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, along with 612 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Johnson said the law was remaining the same in England but "a smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas."

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, he said the rules allowing three households to meet over five days were "maximums, not targets to aim for." "It's always going to be safest to minimize the number of people you meet," he said.

Johnson also advised people to avoid travelling from "high prevalence" areas to those with lower rates of coronavirus and not to stay away from home overnight if possible.

Johnson urged caution over seeing elderly or vulnerable relatives, saying that since the vaccine was being rolled out to these groups "by the early months of the new year," they would be able to meet people more safely soon.

England's chief medical officer Prof. Chris Whitty urged people to keep their Christmas celebrations small, short and local to reduce these risks.