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LONDON came to a halt with 1,200 miles of traffic jams and 90-minute delays, as thousands of city dwellers ran to escape the city before closing.
Roads in the capital were blocked hours before the country suffered a second closure since midnight last night.
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Data from the TomTom satellite navigation application shows that congestion levels at 6:00 p.m. M. They were 34 percent taller than average when the British rushed out of the capital last night.
At the peak of rush hour last night, there were 2,624 traffic jams in the capital, spanning an incredible 1,205 miles.
On the North Circular alone, car queues stretched up to eight miles, resulting in average delays of one hour and fifteen minutes, according to Inrix’s traffic management system.
Other Britons fled the cities to rural homes in scenes reminiscent of the first lockdown in March, in which wealthy city dwellers flocked to second properties in Cornwall and Dorset.
TomTom data showed similar spikes in congestion in other British cities, with Manchester’s traffic increasing by six percentage points to 55 percent.
Leeds’ congestion levels increased 17 percent, while Newcastle’s soared 34 percent.
The fight to get out of the capital came amid fears that the second shutdown could be extended beyond its official end date of December 2, leaving families stranded over the Christmas period.
Cabinet Secretary Michael Gove told Sky News last Sunday that the shutdown could be extended if he fails to drastically reduce the infection rate.
Similar traffic chaos was observed in Paris last week as citizens fled after the announcement of a nationwide lockdown.
The streets of the French capital were lit up with flashing car lights and the sound of horns as fleeing locals created “hundreds of miles” of traffic jams.
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The traffic chaos also led frustrated drivers to air on Twitter last night.
One user wrote: “A 25 minute drive home from Westfield took 1 hour 40 minutes today due to all the crazy traffic, temporary traffic lights and road closures galore.
“It is chaos everywhere.”
Another said, “It only took me two hours to drive 5 miles … this pre-closing traffic.”
‘CHAOS EVERYWHERE’
The traffic chaos came as the British flocked to pubs and shops on the final day before a month-long shutdown was set at midnight last night.
Soho in central London was packed with groups of friends enjoying a last drink together, while queues were also seen snaking outside the bars in Camden Town.
Newcastle and Plymouth were also packed with groups of friends heading into town for one last night of partying.
Restaurants and cafes have now closed their doors and can only offer take-out options.
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Rishi is set to extend the license beyond December as an additional £ 150bn was injected into the economy
Business bosses warned that the four-week shutdown should be the last, as it has “been a blow to the body of devastating proportions to the economy.”
The decision to close nonessential shops and ask the British not to travel comes after government scientists suggested there could be 4,000 deaths a day in England alone in early December.
But some experts say the graphs used to justify a second Covid lockdown in England are “misleading” and “mathematically incorrect”.
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