London experienced major congestion last night (Wednesday 4 November) as the country prepared to go into a second lockdown at midnight, with locals reporting 'chaos everywhere' as they tried to leave the city.
According to congestion data shared by sat-nav provider TomTom, there were 1,200 miles of queues snaking their way around the capital's roads at 6pm, with a total of 2,624 traffic jams recorded.
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Many people said their journeys took far longer than expected, with one saying on social media: "It just took me two hours to drive 5 miles... this pre lockdown traffic."
Another person said: "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... It's chaos everywhere."
A third added: "Tonight's traffic in south London was the worst I have ever, ever seen, in 3 decades of riding it."
Former MP George Galloway also shared photos of packed roads on Twitter, writing: "Total traffic chaos in London."
Similar scenes were found elsewhere in England, with TomTom data showing congestion levels were worse than last year in 16 out of 24 towns and cities.
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According to Metro, traffic was up six percent in Manchester, 34 percent in Newcastle and 17 percent in Leeds, while motorists saw a complete standstill on the M25.
Paris, France, also saw similar gridlock the night before it went into lockdown, with a record-breaking 438-mile traffic jam working its way through the city on 29 October.
Like several European countries, England is now in its second lockdown, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson promising that it will end on 2 December.
He said: "I want to apologise to all of you who are experiencing the frustrations and the nightmare of the Covid world.
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"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."
Featured Image Credit: George Galloway/Twitter