There's a lot of excitement gathering about the next few days, and for good reason.

If you've been outside recently, you'll have noticed that it is scorching hot in Cumbria right now - and our county always looks best on the rare occasion the sun is shining down on it.

Furthermore, from Monday, certain lockdown guidelines will be eased, allowing groups of up to six people from different households to meet up outside.

They can meet in gardens, and parks, as long as separate households are kept two metres apart.

But these two bits of good news need to be taken with a word of caution.

Let us not forget that recently Barrow was revealed to have the highest infection rate of coronavirus per 100,000 in the whole of England - completely abandoning the lockdown guidelines now could be disastrous, and set us back to square one.

As local GP Geoff Joliffe points out on page two of today's The Mail: “This small step to ease the lockdown measures has only been possible because of the public’s patience and hard work in helping to contain the virus so far.

“It’s vital that we still stick to the current guidance and that we all maintain social distancing."

So please, enjoy the weekend, and the coming week, but make sure to stay alert and be responsible.