SCHOOLS across Scotland are set to close tomorrow afternoon and could remain closed for the next five months.

Nicola Sturgeon said the decision had been one of the toughest she’d had to make, but insisted the scientific advice and a shortage of teachers had left her with little choice.

Schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are also set to close on Friday.

Details of what the closure means for children receiving free meals, and pupils preparing for exams are due to be set out later today by education minister John Swinney.

The news came as a third person in Scotland died of coronavirus. Across the UK, the death toll jumped by 32, to 104.

Speaking at a briefing in the Scottish Government’s St Andrew’s House HQ, Sturgeon said the decision to close was based partly on the advice of the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), but also because the “reality on the ground” was that schools have now lost too many staff to “continue as normal”.

The First Minister said: “My view is that it is now inevitable that we will close schools, and nurseries. My planning assumption now is that schools will close to pupils at the end of this week, and I wanted today to give parents notice of that now.

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“There are two key drivers of that view. First is the science. SAGE, our expert scientific advisors, are examining new advice literally as we speak, I expect that that is likely to tell us to close schools.

“Secondly, we have the reality on the ground. As people do the right thing and follow the advice to self-isolate or to isolate as a household, more and more schools are approaching a point where they have lost too many staff to continue as normal. “

The First Minister said the Government was still “working out all of the fine detail of what exactly this will mean.”

Sturgeon said the clearest guidance she could give on how long the closure would last is that people should “not assume that schools and nurseries will re-open after the Easter break”.

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She added: “We will of course, only keep them closed for as long as we absolutely have to.

“But at this stage, I cannot promise that they will re-open before the summer holidays.

“Let me say that this has been one of the hardest decisions we have faced so far as we tackle this virus. We know that this will massively disrupt life, society and the economy. We know that it massively changes family life and nothing is more precious than that.

Teachers’ union chief Larry Flanagan said closing schools was “an absolute necessity.”

The EIS General Secretary said: “This decision will be welcomed by our members, who have expressed growing concern in recent days over potential increased risk to the health of pupils, staff, their families and the wider community.”

Tory MSP Jamie Greene said his party supported the decision and would work with the SNP to “minimise the disruptive consequences”.