The Time Out London blog team

Ah, what better way to spend a weekday afternoon than by finding out how many people in your neighbourhood have got Covid right now? This map helps you do exactly that. It plots weekly government statistics on to a map of the UK and then breaks the information down by postcode. It marks any area that has cases by colouring it from light green through to dark blue and all the way up to burgundy. The darker the shade, the more cases there are. The original map is now redirecting to a government website and it’s probably the most microscopic we’ve got on a map with this kind of germ-loaded data so far. It’s actually plotted by ‘middle super output area’, an area slightly larger than a postcode used by the Office of National Statistics. You can also click on each area to find out the exact number, which means we can tell you that at the time of writing, London cases look like this: Shoreditch has 15 active Covid cases, there are seven in Notting Hill South and 14 in Peckham North. There are only a few postcode regions in the capital in a dark shade of purple at present – mostly on the outskirts of the city, except for Poplar Leaside (39), East Ham West (35), Wanstead (38) and Norwood Green South (39). Click on other areas in and around the centre of the city and you’ll spot a downward trend, with cases in many areas on the decline when compared to last week’s data – and with more of a green shade dominating London as a whole.  Indeed, elsewhere in the UK, much of the map is now

Illustration: Alva Skog Everyone benefits from being in nature. It’s an opportunity to breathe. We’re glued to our phones and bombarded with hecticness on social media. The headlines can be daunting. Exploring nature allows us to escape – and right now, everyone needs that escapism. I’ve been birdwatching for about seven years. I was drawn into it when I had a very stressful job. It was therapeutic. In May this year, I was out birdwatching and I posted some photos on Instagram Stories. Someone started replying and naming all the birds. I clicked on their profile, expecting to see the traditional birdwatching person, and it was [Flock Together co-founder] Nadeem Perera. He said he was an avid birdwatcher. I asked where he lived, thinking he’d say the Lake District or something, and he said Stoke Newington. I was like: I live in Clapton! We decided to set up a birdwatching club. We made a flyer for our social channels and we had so much interest. We did our first walk on Walthamstow Wetlands with about 15 people. Outdoor activity, especially birdwatching, has been presented as a space for white people: we’ve all got the image of the khaki-wearing, middle-aged white male. If that’s the image that’s forced upon you, you feel it’s not for you. We had 74 people on our last walk before lockdown. It’s unlocking something. We’ve been all over the place – Walthamstow Wetlands, Richmond Park, Lee Valley, Epping Forest, Bushy Park. We are fortunate in London to have so much green space.

After months of lockdown and a ban on overnight stays in the UK, our options for a holiday finally opened back up this summer. People from the UK were allowed to travel to a number of countries around the world, without facing quarantine on arrival or on their return. However, recent changes mean non-essential travel in England has been banned, while people are being asked not to travel between Scotland and England either.  So are holidays in Wales allowed? The country has recently come out of a ‘firebreak’ lockdown. During that time period people were asked to stay at home, pubs, restaurants, hotels and non-essential shops closed and non-essential travel in and out of Wales was banned, but some of these restrictions have now lifted.  People in England were also not allowed to go on holiday or stay overnight somewhere that isn’t their home, unless it’ was for essential reasons related to work, education or healthcare, while the country was under lockdown. But that lifted on December 2. So what’s the deal now?  The Welsh government have confirmed that travel is now allowed between Wales and Tier 1 and 2 areas, like London, in England. Travel to Wales from a Tier 3 area, like Bristol or Kent, in England will remain banned, while people will not be allowed to travel between Wales and Tier 3 and 4 areas in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Photograph: Shutterstock   Additionally, travel between Wales and anywhere in England, including Tier 3 locations, will be permitted during t