Nicola Sturgeon has apologised in the Scottish Parliament for breaking coronavirus rules, having been photographed not wearing a face mask.
A photograph published in the Scottish Sun showed Ms Sturgeon chatting to three women in a bar while standing at a distance but without wearing a mask.
Under Scottish government coronavirus rules, customers in hospitality venues must wear a face covering except when seated and must wear one when moving around.
Those who breach the face covering rules can face a £60 fine.
Speaking at the start of First Minister's Questions, she said: "I want to take this opportunity to say how sorry I am for my breach of rules that I ask all of us to follow every single day.
"I took my face mask off while briefly attending a funeral last week, I'm sure everyone will have seen in the media this morning a picture of me without it.
"I want to be clear today that regardless of the circumstances I was in the wrong. There are no excuses. These rules do apply to me just as they do to everyone else and the rules really matter.
"I am kicking myself very hard, possibly harder than my worst critic ever could, but more importantly I'll be making sure I don't drop my guard again."
Ms Sturgeon was attending a funeral wake for a Scottish government civil servant.
This morning's Scottish Sun front page leads on Nicola Sturgeon breaking her own Covid law by not wearing a face mask in a bar while chatting to pensioners
— The Scottish Sun (@ScottishSun) December 23, 2020
Read our exclusive story: https://t.co/sOAWfjh4HP pic.twitter.com/UhY1ltuIMT
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said the First Minister should know better.
"By forgetting the rules and failing to set a proper example, she's undermining essential public health messaging.
"It's a blunder that an ordinary member of the public wouldn't get away with. There cannot be one rule for Nicola Sturgeon and another for everyone else," they said.
Meanwhile, more areas of England will be under Tier 4 from 26 December while a mass testing programme is due to get under way to alleviate congestion at the border between France and Britain.
Reports suggested ministers would meet today to decide whether more parts of the country would be put under the toughest restrictions amid fears over the spread of a new mutant strain of coronavirus.
It came as France lifted its travel ban and allowed journeys from the UK to resume, but said those seeking to travel must have a negative coronavirus test result.
Genomic researchers have found the new variant, which is said to be 70% more infectious than previous strains, has already spread around the UK, with cases identified in Wales and Scotland.
Health chiefs in Cumbria have said the new variant is in the county and could be behind sharp increases in new cases, while Lancashire's director of public health said there was a "high likelihood" the new variant was in the county.
UK GPs warn of delay in coronavirus vaccine supply
The UK government has been urged to speed up delivery of the coronavirus vaccine amid growing concerns over the new Covid variant.
The Guardian reports "more than half" of hospital trusts and two-thirds of GPs are yet to receive their vaccine supplies as the highly transmissible mutant strain continues to spread throughout the UK, with cases identified in Wales and Scotland.
Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the British Medical Association's GP committee, has warned lives would be lost if delivery of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was not accelerated.
He told the paper: "We need millions of doses to be made available as soon as possible - urgently - because it's the number one priority for GP practices, our patients and the nation, especially given the new mutant strain.
"GPs who haven't got it yet are frustrated because they want to be getting on and vaccinating their patients as well."
The sentiment has been echoed by Labour leader Keir Starmer, who wrote in a letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the vaccine needed to be rolled out "as quickly as possible".
Mr Johnson said on Monday more than half a million Britons had already received their first dose of the two-part vaccine.
Overall, the UK has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer jab - enough to vaccinate 20 million people.
But amid disruption at British ports caused by countries implementing travel bans over the Covid variant, the Royal College of GPs has called for the government to be more transparent with vaccine supply numbers.
Chairman Professor Martin Marshall told The Guardian: "Now we need information about the supply we already have in the country, and about when future supply is expected to arrive."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman told the paper the government has "sufficient" doses to maintain the vaccination programme, and it is "working closely with Pfizer to ensure vaccines keep arriving into the UK".
