Boris Johnson initially placed Britain into lockdown on March 23 as the Government unleashes every power at its disposal to slow down and hopefully kill the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The public have been ordered to remain at home and only leave to go out for essential medial or food supplies, as well as daily exercise once a day – all while remaining two metres apart from others. They have also been told to work from home when absolutely possible, while police have also been given significant new powers to fine and even arrest those flouting the strict lockdown rules.

Last Friday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in for the Prime Minister as he continues his full recovery from coronavirus, said the lockdown would be extended for at least another three weeks.

The strict lockdown has left the UK streets and landmarks completely deserted – perfectly illustrated by 14 pictures taken during the bright spring sunshine at noon earlier today.

London, which is usually swarmed upon by tens millions of people at this time of year, now resembles an eerie ghost town.

Horse Guards Parade was empty as thousands of tourists stayed away, while empty streets and pavements were pictured around Little Ben, the cast iron miniature clock tower located at the intersection of Vauxhall Bridge Road and Victoria Street.

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Just a handful of people were on the popular riverside walk alongside the Thames near the world-famous Tower Bridge, while Canary Wharf – usually bustling with thousands of business people – was near-deserted around the main square.

Nationwide travel has been heavily restricted, perfectly illustrated by the empty concourse at London’s Waterloo station – Britain’s busiest station with 94 million passenger interchanges in 2019. A shopping arcade at Windsor station was also deserted.

British politicians broke 700 years of tradition at noon today, returning to Parliament following an extended Easter break to take part in a historic Prime Minister’s Questions in Westminster.

A maximum of 50 ministers were physically allowed in the House of Commons debating chamber – remaining two metres apart on the benches – with a further 120 permitted to contribute via Zoom video conference, beamed onto television screens dotted around the walls of the ornate wood-panelled room.

Mr Raab was present and was grilled by the likes of new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer from across the opposition benches.

Liverpool waterfront – basking in the bright spring sunshine – was almost entirely empty, while people stayed off the streets further north in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The M5 motorway – the 162-mile stretch of road popular with holidaymakers connecting towns and cities including Birmingham, Worcester, Cheltenham, Bristol and Exeter – was almost empty in the direction of Devon.

King’s Parade, with King’s College and the Senate House in the historic city of Cambridge, was also deserted, as was Waterlooville town centre near the south coast in Hampshire.

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Away from the spring sunshine and deserted streets, a first class pupil in Dublin was pictured reading to his younger brother, as according to his home schooling timetable.

But work didn’t stop at the Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow, where scientists were busy receiving and analysing coronavirus swabs taken from NHS staff and frontline workers with suspected COVID-19 infections.

The extraordinary lockdown pictures come with the UK announcing a further 763 people had died in hospitals from coronavirus during the 24 hour period until 5pm on Tuuesday, taking the death toll past 18,000.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 133,495 as of 9am on Wednesday.

The Government has continued to warn any relaxing of the lockdown measures can only be taken when five key tests have been met.

These include protecting the NHS’s ability to cope, ensuring a drop in the daily death rates and having reliable data to show the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels.

Earlier today, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was confident the country was at the peak of the disease, but stressed continued social distancing is required to bring the number of new cases down.

During the government’s daily briefing, Mr Raab warned a “second spike” in coronavirus would trigger a second lockdown that would “prolong the economic pain we are all going through”.

The Foreign Secretary said: “We are making progress through the peak of this virus but we’re not out of the woods yet, as Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) advised last week.

“That’s why the measures we introduced must remain in place for the time being.

“The greatest risk for us now, if we eased up on our social distancing rules too soon, is that we would risk a second spike in the virus with all the threats to life that would bring and then the risk of a second lockdown which would prolong the economic pain we are all going through.”

The 14 extraordinary pictures were taken at noon on Wednesday by different photographers from the Press Association news agency.

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