Covid lockdown UK: Police clear thousands of partying revellers from town and city centres

Police clamped down on revellers massing in large crowds last night after thousands of lockdown-weary Britons ignored pleas to stick to the rules as fights broke out on the last day of the 75F mini-heatwave.

Officers were seen clearing drinkers from Castlefield Bowl in Manchester city centre after hundreds gathered for a rave with a live DJ set, while similar police action took place in Hyde Park, London.

Earlier in the evening, fights broke out at Hyde Park in Leeds as police in Nottingham seized bottles of alcohol from sunseekers and poured it on the grass after ‘appalling scenes’ in the city’s arboretum earlier in the week. 

Paddy Tipping, the police and crime commissioner, said: ‘Police think that if they can get on top of control over alcohol confiscation, and make the people holding it pour it away, then it will lead to better behaviour.’

The tougher approach to enforcing the rule of six comes amid warnings from experts that throwing out all social distancing could lead to a large spike in infections, even after millions have received vaccines. 

However, police chiefs have warned ministers that the ‘rule of six’ is virtually unenforceable because of the two household concession, which puts no limit on numbers. 

It came as litter pickers were out in force this morning to clear another mountain of rubbish left behind by revellers yesterday. 

The hot weather which baked much of the UK this week is set to give way to a chilly Easter weekend. Parts of the UK saw temperatures hit almost 24C (75.2F) on Wednesday, with Weybourne, north Norfolk leading the way at a peak of 23.9C (75F).

The figure fell just shy of the nation’s hottest ever March temperature of 25.6C (78F), which was recorded in 1968 at Mepal in Cambridgeshire. But the warm weather will not extend into the Easter weekend, with temperatures forecast to drop to the low teens in the east of England from Thursday.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said a ‘cold front’ will start moving down from the north, bringing with it colder, windier conditions in stark contrast to the previous ‘warm southerly winds’.

Good Friday is expected to be fine and sunny for much of the UK before developing into rain on Easter Sunday, with the chance of sleet or snow in Scotland and the far north of England.

Mr Madge said: ‘Friday should mark a rather malign start to Easter, with colder conditions for large swathes of the country as part of an Arctic plunge.

‘Temperatures will be dragged down quite a bit from the day before, with wintry showers expected in Scotland and the most northern regions in England.’

Temperatures are expected to bottom-out on Easter Monday, with the mercury likely to hover around 0C (32F) in much of Scotland and north east England.

The biggest crowds yesterday appeared to be at Woodhouse Moor in Leeds, where hundreds of people gathered – and West Yorkshire Police warned they would ‘disperse groups of over six, using fines where appropriate to do so’.

Elsewhere in the region a 14-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty at a waterfall. He was spotted struggling in a pool at about 6pm yesterday below the Goit Stock Waterfall beauty spot at Cullingworth near Bradford. 

The hottest place in Britain by 2pm yesterday was Weybourne in Norfolk which hit 74.5F (23.6C). This was 36.4F (20.2C) warmer than the coldest place in the UK at the same time, Dalwhinnie in the Highlands, with 38.1F (3.4C).

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick urged people to make the most the latest easing of lockdown restrictions in England in a ‘sensible, cautious’ manner, enjoying the sunshine but also being careful and sticking to the rules.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘We’ve all waited a long time to meet family and friends outdoors with these very limited freedoms we have now. We just need to exercise caution and be sensible and pragmatic.

‘I think the vast majority of people will do that. They will enjoy the sunshine this week and over the Easter weekend, but they will do that in a sensible and cautious way.’

Mr Jenrick added that people should try ‘to be careful, sticking to the rules’, while Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted last night: ‘Let’s enjoy the sun but let’s do it safely. We have come so far, don’t blow it now.’

Their comments come after the Prime Minister said he hoped people would take advantage of the ‘beautiful weather’ to play sport or exercise, while also emphasising the country should still ‘proceed with caution’.