After months without hair salons, you’re probably looking forward to kissing those split ends goodbye. Ditching your grown-out roots or getting braids done, however, may be a little tricker.  

Salons and other personal care settings across England has been asked to “keep appointments short,” meaning your usual three-hour appointment for highlights, braiding or extensions might be rejected. 

“Businesses should consider providing shorter, more basic treatments to keep the time to a minimum,” the government’s guidance to personal care providers says.

If a lengthy treatment is requested, salons might suggest an alternative that cuts the time a little. 

Businesses should be “reviewing working practices to minimise the duration of contact with the client,”  the government adds. “Where extended treatments are undertaken, such as braiding or massages, consider how the length of the appointment could be minimised.”

Of course, all of this is immaterial if you can’t get an appointment. When HuffPost UK asked some of the country’s biggest salon chains what their appointment books are looking like, some were already booked into summer. 

Alas, it looks like we’ll have to make do with DIY jobs for a while longer. If you can’t get an appointment, read our guide on cutting your hair at home, or this handy scissor-free list of hair hacks to make your mullet look less untidy.