New images have been released showing there has been no mass Easter getaway this year.
Location technology firm TomTom created the visuals for London, Manchester and Birmingham which highlight the dramatic fall in traffic levels on Thursday compared with the equivalent day in 2019.
This suggests most people are following the Government’s coronavirus lockdown instruction not to visit tourist hotspots this weekend.
The images for the Thursday before last year’s Easter weekend feature a lot of red lines, representing the highest traffic volumes.
In contrast, the 2020 versions mostly include grey lines, which indicate light traffic.
TomTom’s data shows that traffic on Maundy Thursday 2019 reached a peak at 5pm.
At that time, the proportion of additional time required for journeys compared with free-flow conditions was 60% in Birmingham, 66% in London and 69% in Manchester.
But at 5pm on Thursday this year, the figures were just 14% in Birmingham, 15% in Manchester and 16% in London.
A similar picture was seen in other cities across the UK.
The Easter weekend is normally one of the busiest of the year on the roads, as millions of leisure journeys lead to gridlock on routes to and from popular tourist destinations.
But the Government’s coronavirus lockdown means non-essential travel is banned.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here