After all non-essential shops were ordered to close from midnight yesterday, high streets, which would normally be full of last-minute Christmas shoppers, were empty.
After thousands of people left the capital over the weekend after new Tier 4 rules were enforced, London’s streets were abandoned on Monday.
With millions of Londoners obeying the government’s “work from home” order, the underground was almost empty of commuters.
After all non-essential stores were ordered to close from midnight on Sunday, high streets, which would normally be teeming with last-minute Christmas shoppers, were empty.
This morning, Oxford Street and Regents Street were completely deserted and most shops and restaurants were closed in the largest shopping centers in London in what will normally be one of the busiest weeks of the year.
It comes on Saturday night and Sunday morning after a mass exodus from the capital as the government banned travel over Christmas from Tier 4 areas and people rushed to break a 48-hour ban on flights from Britain to Ireland.
On Saturday night, trains from Kings Cross to the North East were sold out as people desperately tried to bring their families home for the festive season.
An “Irish exodus” was identified by one traveler as crowds queuing at Heathrow hoping to catch the final evening flight to Dublin.
A last-minute later flight, described by one traveler as a “Christmas miracle,” the Irish Government gave the green light.
Similar scenes occurred in Dover as passengers tried to cross the Channel until the UK-French border was closed amid fears about increasing cases of Covid-19 and a new strain of the virus.
In the wake of a new mutant strain of coronavirus spreading through South East England, France is also among a host of European countries introducing travel restrictions.
According to early results, the latest version of the virus is potentially 70 percent more transmissible.
The government has announced that passengers who were preparing to travel for Christmas who have canceled their plans will have their train and coach bookings refunded.
In the face of tightening Covid-19 restrictions across the UK, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said consumers would not be “left out of pocket” for “doing the right thing.”
For canceled rail and coach bookings in England, cash refunds will be issued for the previous Christmas travel window of 23 to 27 December, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
Flights from the UK to countries around the world, including Spain, India, and Hong Kong, are being suspended.
France has closed its border with the United Kingdom for 48 hours, meaning that no lorries or ferries will depart from Dover Port.
He talked with French President Emmanuel Macron, Boris Johnson said, and both sides agreed to solve “these problems as fast as possible.”
Several countries announced plans over the weekend to close down their boundaries with Britain. All banned flights from the UK exist in Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and the Netherlands, while Austria and Sweden are reportedly planning to do the same.
Source: Standard UK, CNBC