Coronavirus England: London’s road traffic up 34% ahead of lockdown
Chock-a-blockdown! Tens of thousands of motorists trying to flee London before midnight spark 1,200 MILES of queues across city’s roads with 90-minute delays in ‘worst congestion ever’
- Whopping 2,624 traffic jams across the capital spanning 1,205 miles with eight miles on North Circular alone
- Comes hours before the country’s second national lockdown comes into play for the next four weeks
- One Twitter user said the congestion in London was the worst he had seen for three decades
Britain’s roads were gridlocked tonight with tens of thousands of drivers trying to flee London ahead of the new lockdown coming into force at midnight.
According to congestion data published by satnav provider TomTom, there were 1,200 miles of queues across the city’s roads at 6pm with a whopping 2,624 traffic jams recorded.
Frustrated motorists reported delays of more than 90 minutes in the capital, with traffic on the North Circular alone stretching eight miles.
A similar story was seen across England with TomTom data showing congestion levels being worse than last year in 16 out of 24 towns and cities. The M25 was also brought to a complete standstill.
The RAC said breakdown reports were up 15 per cent compared to last year and said the spike was caused by people enjoying pre-lockdown shopping trips and leisure outings.
Although Boris Johnson has vowed the lockdown will end on December 2, there are fears that it will be extended – potentially until Christmas – which could be leading people to try and reunite with their families before it is too late.
The increase in traffic caused a stir on Twitter – one user even said that congestion in London was the worst he’d seen in three decades, and another said the capital was in ‘total chaos’.
Kensington High Street is full of cars at an absolute standstill as commuters go home during rush hour
A whopping 2,624 traffic jams were recorded across the capital during rush hour this evening as people desperately tried to get out of the city before lockdown
Regent Street in Soho is packed with backed up traffic jams full of stationary cars
The A4 in Chiswick has hordes of cars at a complete standstill during rush hour tonight
Congestion levels this evening were 34 per cent higher than levels from the same day last year
There are currently 2,624 traffic jams across the capital (pictured, Regent Street)
London traffic on the night before the national lockdown, pictured on one of the main roads – the A4 in Chiswick
Similar levels of congestion were seen in other major cities across the country such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield.
Around 10million people living in the North West and the Midlands are already under Tier Three, which bans socialising with other households and orders pubs to shut unless they serve substantial meals. Another 20million are under the second tightest bracket, which bans people from meeting friends and family indoors.
As restrictions are set to tighten even further come midnight, it appears people across the country are frantically making their way out of major cities to get back to their rural homes ahead of lockdown.
Britain today recorded another 492 Covid-19 victims in the highest daily death toll since May — but infections are no longer spiralling.
The country yesterday recorded its lowest number of daily coronavirus cases in a fortnight, leaving scientists questioning whether the second national lockdown had been ordered too early.
Department of Health figures show the number of laboratory-confirmed victims today is the most since 500 were announced on May 19 — the death tolls on Mondays are known to be higher than usual because of a recording lag over the weekend. More than 1,000 infected Brits were succumbing to the disease each day during the peak of the first wave in the spring.
But infections have risen just 1.9 per cent in a week, with government officials today declaring another 25,177 new positive tests. Government advisers say the true number of daily cases occurring during the worst parts of March and April was around 100,000 — but Number 10‘s lacklustre testing system meant millions went undetected.
Pictured is a map of the UK showing the main congestion areas are in and around London, Cambridge, Liverpool and Birmingham
Traffic in Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds also saw increases when compared with the same day last year.
Boris Johnson’s second lockdown is set to last for four weeks and finish on December 2 – a date which the Prime Minister has vowed will not change.
He has advised workers to do their jobs from home where possible, and it seems those who commute into the city are all making a final trip back home for the next month.
The increase in traffic has caused a stir on Twitter, with users taking to the internet to complain about the sky-high levels of congestion.
The increase in traffic has caused a stir on Twitter, with users taking to the internet to complain about the sky-high levels of congestion
One user wrote: ‘A 25 minute journey home from Westfield took 1hr 40 mins today due to all the mad traffic, temporary traffic lights and road closures galore… Its chaos everywhere.’
Another said: ‘It just took me two hours to drive 5 miles… this pre lockdown traffic.’
While another wrote: ‘Traffic all day in our bit of London has been off the charts. Has had that feel to it.’
Paul Clarke wrote: ‘Tonight’s traffic in south London was the worst I have ever, ever seen, in 3 decades of riding it.’
Pictured is a map showing the traffic jams around London during rush hour this evening
Johnson said today that the new lockdown, due to come into force just after midnight tonight and end on December 2, would not go on after that.
But his pre-recorded speech of around seven minutes made no mention of Brexit, despite the end of the transition period in under two months time.
Speaking from Downing Street the Prime Minister said: ‘I want to apologise to all of you who are experiencing the frustrations and the nightmare of the Covid world.
‘I know how tough it has been for you and I’m full of admiration for the determination you’ve shown in persevering through this crisis.
‘I want to thank you for the heroic efforts you’ve made to look after your employees, to make your premises Covid-secure, putting in Perspex screens, all the trouble you’ve gone to in complying with the kinds of diktats that I never believed we would have to impose which, I assure you, go completely against every free market instinct I possess.
‘And, believe me, we will end these autumn measures on December 2 when they expire.’
Congestion levels in London over the past 48 hours
Congestion levels in Liverpool over the past 48 hours
Congestion levels in Birmingham over the past 48 hours
Congestion levels in Manchester over the past 48 hours
Congestion levels in Sheffield over the past 48 hours
Congestion levels in Leeds over the past 48 hours
England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty yesterday sparked hope that the second lockdown may be over by Christmas when he said there was a ‘realistic possibility’ the measures could be lifted on December 2.
During a grilling by MPs yesterday ahead of today’s vote, he argued there was a good chance England will have moved into a ‘different state of play’. And he said the goal was to ‘move into a series of tiers at the end of that period’.
But he admitted Number 10 would have to consider adopting different rules to ‘match the situation we see ourselves in at the end of this month’.
Asked if the new lockdown that comes into force from tomorrow would work, Professor Whitty told MPs in the Science and Technology Select Committee: ‘If people adhere to it in the way I expect they will, it will reduce R below one… It will make a huge difference.’
On another chaotic day of wrestling over how to respond to the coronavirus crisis:
- The NHS is being thrust back into its highest alert level, in anticipation of a wave of coronavirus hospital admissions in the coming weeks;
- New shielding guidance says the most vulnerable group of people should stay at home except for exercise and medical appointments;
- John Lewis has announced it is to cut 1,500 head office jobs in an effort to bolster the business in the devastating pandemic;
- Supermarkets reminded Britons that couples and families should not shop together in a bid to aid social distancing measures ahead of England’s new winter lockdown;
- Nicola Sturgeon threatened to criminalise Scots who travel far from home as she warned of a toughening up of Scottish Covid laws;
- There is only a ‘small chance’ that Oxford University’s coronavirus vaccine will be ready by Christmas, one of the top scientists behind the experimental jab warned;
- Boris Johnson apologised to business leaders for the introduction of new Government ‘diktats’ during the second coronavirus lockdown today and vowed not to extend the enforced closure of UK plc.
The Prime Minister delivered a short -pre-recorded video message to the CBI conference this morning after being forced to cancel a scheduled Monday slot after his plans for a four-week shutdown were leaked
