With Londoners heading out to enjoy the sun, it’s hard to imagine that just two years ago streets and parks stood empty as the first coronavirus lockdown hit the city.
Pubs, restaurants, hotels and non-essential shops downed shutters as the virus spread, with people told not to travel in or out of the capital unless absolutely necessary when the lockdown came into force on March 23 2020.
Since then, it’s been a rough ride for many, with lives, businesses and jobs lost over the pandemic.
While cases are rising again, all legal restrictions came to an end earlier this month and the life finally seems to be going back to normal.
More and more Londoners are heading back to the office, with Oxford Street and Covent Garden once again full of shoppers and tourists.
As London recovers and rebuilds, it’s fascinating to look back over these eerie images which show normally busy areas such as St Paul’s, the Mall and Heathrow Airport abandoned and deserted.
1. An almost empty Trafalgar Square
Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images | AFP via Getty Images
2. Deserted Buckingham Palace
A jogger runs along the deserted pavements around Buckingham Palace, normally full of throngs of tourists. Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images | Getty Images
3. Empty Heathrow Airport arrivals hall
Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images | AFP via Getty Images
4. Oxford Street is almost completely deserted
A single cyclist is the only traffic on Oxford Street during the first lockdown. | LW