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.
Since then, it’s been a rough ride for many, with lives, businesses and jobs lost over the pandemic.
5. Harrods thanks the NHS
Photo by ISABEL INFANTES/AFP via Getty Images
6. Deserted Mall
The Mall is completely empty during the first lockdown.
7. St Paul’s is empty
Not a soul in sight around St Paul’s Cathedral.
8. Regent Street becomes a ghost town
One single person walks along an almost deserted Regent Street during the first lockdown. Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)