London: With tier 4 restrictions coming into force, London is currently witnessing a mini exodus as people try to get back home ahead of Christmas. Notably, tier 4 is the highest possible level lockdown in England. The trains have been reported to be running full while stations are witnessing overcrowding as people flee back to their homes. Police have been deployed at stations to control the chaos.

Travellers at St Pancras station were told that social distancing “will not be possible” due to the volume of people on board, and those that felt “uncomfortable” should not stay on the trainNew, Evening Standard reported.

Notably, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a new Tier Four of coronavirus restrictions for London and other parts of England to combat an alarming surge in new coronavirus cases linked to a new virulent strain. The planned relaxation of coronavirus rules for Christmas has been scrapped for a large part of southeast England, and cut to one day for rest of the region.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Sunday raised the prospect that London could be under lockdown for months as he has warned it will be “very difficult” to keep a virulent new strain of the coronavirus under control until vaccinations are rolled out.

Under the new tougher measures, residents in those areas must stay at home, with limited exemptions. People are also urged to work from home when they can, and should not enter or leave tier four areas. Meanwhile, non-essential retails and indoors gyms must close, the Prime Minister had said. The restrictions will last for two weeks and will be reviewed on December 30, Johnson had added.

Meanwhile, a number of European countries have also banned flights from the UK as the British government warned that the potent new strain of the virus was “out of control” and imposed a stringent new stay-at-home lockdown from Sunday.