Coronavirus UK: Comparison traffic maps show empty cities are

Amazing maps show how locked-down London is empty of traffic compared to last Good Friday before the coronavirus struck.

Visuals from TomTom showed traffic in the capital, Manchester and Birmingham was down on Thursday compared with the same 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 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 per cent in Birmingham, 66 per cent in London and 69 per cent in Manchester.

But at 5pm on Thursday this year, the figures were just 14 per cent in Birmingham, 15 per cent in Manchester and 16 per cent 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.