Czech morning news in brief: top stories for Jan. 8, 2021

Austria will introduce border controls from midnight on Friday to Saturday due to the growing coronavirus pandemic, and the number of border crossings will be limited next week, Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček (ČSSD) posted on Twitter. According to him, other travel rules remain the same, although Petříček also confirmed that he and Saxony Health Minister Petra Kopping will talk about the stricter rules for trips from the Czech Republic to Saxony on Friday. See the full story here.

Last year was the fifth warmest in the Czech Republic since 1775 when the Prague-Klementinum meteorological station started its temperature records, and all the four warmer years occurred in the past seven years, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMU) website has reported. The average temperature was 12.3 degrees Celsius in Prague last year, which is 0.5 degrees Celsius lower than the record high from 2018. Read more here.

Another demonstration against the government's anti-epidemic restrictions and fighting for the reopening of restaurants will take place in Prague on Sunday, its organizers from the Chcipl PES group told journalists today. The name of the group refers to the currently applied PES anti-epidemic system. The group has been criticizing the aid to businesspeople approved by the government on Monday. Read the full story here.

Domestic e-shops earned a record CZK 196 billion, with the most year-on-year increase in interest in painting by numbers, books, and e-books. In the spring wave of the pandemic, home bakeries enjoyed a boost according to an analysis by the shopping comparator Heureka.cz and the Association for Electronic Commerce (APEK). See the full story here.

Our pic of the day comes from sani_travels on Instagram who perfectly captures the snowy scene at Hostivařská přehrada!

Do you have an amazing photo from across the Czech Republic that you think could be our latest pic of the day? Let us know by email: editor@expats.cz.