Roads deserted as tens of millions watch Euro 2020 final

Congestion levels plummeted in Birmingham, Leicester, Liverpool, London and Manchester.
A stretch of the M4 motorway near London with no traffic during the Euro 2020 final
PA Wire
Neil Lancefield12 July 2021

Many of England’s roads were deserted on Sunday night as tens of millions of people were glued to television screens showing the Euro 2020 final.

Data from location technology firm TomTom shows that, between 9pm and 10pm, congestion levels in London were at just 3%, compared with 14% during the same period a week earlier.

Other towns and cities experienced similar week-on-week reductions, including Birmingham (from 11% to 3%), Leicester (23% to 5%), Liverpool (9% to 3%) and Manchester (9% to 1%).

The M4 motorway near London
PA Wire

The match kicked off at 8pm and ended shortly before 11pm.

Traffic soared after England’s penalty shoot-out defeat, with congestion levels between 11pm and midnight at 27% in London, 13% in Birmingham and Leicester, and 11% in Liverpool and Manchester.

Congestion levels demonstrate the average length of journey times compared with free-flow conditions.

Transport for London said 164,000 Tube journeys were made between 8pm and 11pm on Sunday, compared with 225,000 during the same period a week earlier.

But some 209,000 journeys were made between 11pm and midnight, after the match ended.

That was the highest demand for the Tube at that time of day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

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