THE Borders is set to become a coronavirus hotspot in the next two weeks, according to researchers.

Analysis carried out by Imperial College London suggests the Borders has a 91 per cent chance of being a hotspot by October 3.

The definition of a hotspot, according to the researchers, is when weekly reported cases exceed 50 per 100,000 in the population.

By the end of this week, the Borders is 77 per cent likely to become a hotspot.

The analysis shows a further eight areas in Scotland have a high likelihood of becoming hotspots in the next week or two.

Local lockdown restrictions continue to be in place in several areas of Scotland, including in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and in Lanarkshire.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned on Friday that some difficult decisions would be taken over the weekend, and stricter rules may be put in place to avoid "another full-scale lockdown".

At First Minister's Questions last week, Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government was "carefully considering" whether new lockdown rules were required "for all or parts of the country".

In Scotland, the rate of transmission (the R number) is on the rise, and is now believed to be between 1.1 and 1.4. 

Across the weekend, there were almost 600 cases recorded, with three further deaths registered.

Saturday's increase of 350 cases marked the highest daily increase in four months.