WatchOS will not update

My Apple Watch 6 is on WatchOS 7.3.3, and I cannot update to a new version.

Several times, it prompted me to do an evening update, and I set it up to do so, but it failed to update. Now, when I go to the Watch app on my phone and go to the General -> Software Update page, it says:

“To update the software on your Apple Watch, you first need to update the software on your iPhone.”

the problem is that my iPhone is on iOS 14.8 and it claims to be up to date.

when I try to update from the Watch, it says:

”Checking for update…”

”Unable to Check for Update

An error occurred while checking for a software update”

I have already tried rebooting both devices, and I even unpaired and re-paired my watch with my phone. This had no effect, and I was still unable to update the watch.