GRIDLOCK-DOWN
London grinds to a halt with 1,200 miles of traffic jams & 90 min delays as thousands escape city before lockdown
LONDON ground to a halt with 1,200 miles of traffic jams and 90 minute delays - as thousands of city dwellers raced to escape the city before lockdown.
Roads in the capital were gridlocked hours before the country was plunged into a second shutdown from midnight last night.
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Data from SatNav app TomTom shows that congestion levels at 6pm were a whopping 34 per cent higher than average as Brits made a mad dash out of the capital last night.
At the peak of rush hour yesterday evening, there were 2,624 traffic jams in the capital - spanning an incredible 1,205 miles.
On the North Circular alone, queues of cars stretched as long as eight miles creating average delays of an hour and fifteen minutes, according to Inrix traffic management system.
Other Brits fled the cities to rural homes in scenes reminiscent of the first lockdown in March - which saw wealthy city dwellers flock to second properties in Cornwall and Dorset.
TomTom data showed similar peaks in congestion in other British cities, with Manchester traffic up by six percentage points to 55 per cent.
Leeds’ congestion levels were up 17 per cent while Newcastle’s shot up by 34 per cent.
The scramble to get out of the capital came amid fears that the second lockdown could be extended beyond its official end date of December 2 - leaving families stranded during the Christmas period.
Cabinet secretary Michael Gove told Sky News last Sunday that the shutdown could be extended, should it fail to dramatically reduce the rate of infection.
The streets of the French capital were lit up with flashing car lights and the sounds of horns as the fleeing locals created "hundreds of miles" of gridlock.
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The traffic chaos also led frustrated motorists to ventilate on Twitter last night.
One user wrote: “A 25 minute journey home from Westfield took 1 hour 40 mins today due to all the mad traffic, temporary traffic lights and road closures galore.
“It’s chaos everywhere”.
Another said: “It just took me two hours to drive 5 miles… this pre lockdown traffic.”
'CHAOS EVERYWHERE'
The traffic chaos came as Brits flocked to pubs and shops on the last day before a month-long lockdown came into place at midnight last night.
Soho in Central London was packed with groups of pals enjoying one last drink together - while snaking queues were also seen outside bars in Camden Town.
Newcastle and Plymouth were also bustling with groups of pals hitting the town for one last night out.
Restaurants and cafes have now shut their doors - and can only offer takeaway options.
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Business chiefs warned the four-week shutdown must be the last as it has “been a body blow of devastating proportion for the economy”.
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The decision to shut non-essential shops and ask Brits not to travel comes after Government scientists suggested there could be 4,000 deaths a day in England alone by early December.
But some experts say graphs used to justify a second Covid lockdown in England are "misleading" and are "mathematically incorrect".
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Paris gridlocked as tens of thousands flee city ahead of new nationwide Covid lockdown