Britain rings silent in 2021 with small crowds and heavy police presence

The clock has struck midnight in Britain, heralding a new year and the end of one of the strangest 12 months in the country’s history.

2020 came out with something of a whimper, with the usual fireworks cut off and nightclubs closed for months as the streets of major towns and cities felt eerily sparse.

All of England, except for the 2,000 inhabitants of the Isles of Scilly, was pushed to levels 3 and 4 on Wednesday, forcing all bars and pubs to close.

At the highest level, only two people from different households can meet in the open air, though some flouters in central London were pushing their luck, while crowds were gathering on the South Bank.

However, fireworks and drones lit up the capital’s night sky as part of a light display on Tower Bridge after the city’s normal New Years extravaganza was canceled.

Likewise, thousands viewed an incredible display in the Newcastle skies from their windows.

But it is not a noisy New Year’s Eve celebration across the country, rather a sigh of relief and a sign that as Britons we must remain cautious.

Somewhat more difficult when other countries can end the year with the usual enthusiasm having already controlled the virus.

Traditional New Year’s Eve venues, including Blackpool, were abandoned, while Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, and Cardiff were equally deserted.

Instead, people across the UK launched fireworks into the sky from their back gardens as pleas to stay home amid the raging pandemic were widely followed.

If something has taught us this year, it is how to have fun comfortably on our sofas in front of the television in the bubbles of the home.

But not everyone answered the call as the new strain of Covid rampaged: Thousands of careless party goers attend illegal parties, and organizers ignore threats of £ 10,000 fines.

Police have broken up one of those 60-person events tonight in a building on Chadwell Heath, east London, and then another with 100 people in Barking.

Some shameless organizers announced events on social media saying that partygoers can dance 2020 in a secret location.

Despite the Elizabeth Tower being shrouded in scaffolding, Big Ben led the bongs, despite a distinct lack of crowds to perform the traditional countdown.

Just an hour earlier, the famous bell had sounded another 12 times – a test, according to the House of Parliament office, which happened at the time the UK officially left the EU.

Four years ago, when the electorate voted between 52% and 48% to leave the union, few could have imagined the circumstances that have come to color Brexit Day.

Parliament Square, where the man’s ‘Stop Brexit’ horn call sounded on news feeds for much of 2017, 2018 and 2019, was eerily silent.

So were town and city centers across the country, which had been stripped of their usual scenes of New Year’s Eve jubilation.

Also missing were the fireworks that usually illuminate the banks of the River Thames, in an attempt to avoid large concentrations to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Exhibits in Edinburgh, Manchester and Liverpool were also archived.

The relative silence that descended in the UK today came the day after Boris Johnson urged people to view 2021 from the safety of their homes.

His calls were echoed by NHS England National Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis, who warned that: “Covid loves the crowd.”

For the most part, people played their part, conscious of not imposing an even greater burden on NHS staff working in freefall to treat large numbers of Covid-19 patients.

Fireworks were heard throughout the night, while a lone man was seen spinning a flare in central London.

Scotland’s traditional Hogmanay celebrations moved online this year, leaving Scots to pick up a drink from the comfort of their living rooms.

The only place where the festivities resembled anything close to normal was in the Isles of Scilly, where a few lucky Britons could huddle in the icy night air and walk into pubs.