Britons across the UK today flocked to beaches up and down the country to take a stroll with their loved ones for Mother’s Day, despite social distancing advice from the government due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Many headed to the beaches and parks this morning and enjoyed the balmy spring weather after the government forced pubs and restaurants to close on Friday night.
Tourists are also being urged to stay away from beaches and other holiday destinations in the UK to limit the spread of coronavirus.
In the coastal town of Whitby, people were seen lining up for fish and chips while others chatted away to their friends and relatives yesterday.
This is while in Dorset many strolled across the sands while others thought nothing of going for a dip in the sea this afternoon.
The Scottish government has today criticised tourists for ‘irresponsible behavior’ as many got in their caravans to try and ‘escape’ from the coronavirus.
In London, people were still out and about and some even made it down to the infamous Columbia Road Flower Market this afternoon.
Cumbria Police said despite Government advice to avoid non-essential travel, the Lake District and other tourist hotspots in the UK were experiencing an ‘influx’ of visitors.
Many people flocked to the beach today despite social distancing measures being advised for people up and down the country
A woman carries her child and a bunch of flowers during a visit to Columbia Road flower market in east London on Mother’s Day
The Scottish Government has issued a travel warning and criticised the ”irresponsible behaviour’ of those travelling to the Highlands in a bid to isolate from coronavirus
The coastal town of Whitby, Yorkshire, packed with tourists ignoring the Governments social distancing advice on saturday afternoon
The force has now urged people from outside its county to keep away, stating that the Lake District is ‘no longer conducting business as usual’, with pubs, restaurants and attractions advised to close.
In Scotland, its tourism secretary, Fiona Hyslop, was clear and asked people not to flock to the Highlands in order to escape other busier places.
‘My advice to everybody is stay where you are. Do not travel to the Highlands and Islands.’
Meanwhile, Judy Murray, mother of tennis stars Andy and Jamie Murray, tweeted a simple message to ‘those relocating to the countryside’ – a picture of a car and trailer with ‘Go home idiots’ and ‘Covid-19’ painted on the side.
The pleas came as the organisation that represents tourism businesses along the A830 road, which connects Fort William with Mallaig, also urged potential visitors to stay away.
The Road To The Isles group includes 100 accommodation and visitor-based businesses on the scenic route, which takes in Glenfinnan, Lochailort, Roshven, Arisaig, Morar, Mallaig and the Small Isles of Eigg, Muck, Rum, Canna and the Knoydart peninsula.
The area already has an ageing population, with just one doctor and ambulance to cover it, and the nearest hospital is 100 miles away.
As Covid-19 affects communities across the country, the organisation said the ‘vital services’ still open there are ‘struggling to cope with demand’.
Sine MacKellaig-Davis, chairwoman of Road To The Isles Marketing Group, said: ‘Road To The Isles at this time would normally be marking the opening of the season, coming out of hibernation and preparing to welcome valued visitors from around the country.
‘However, Covid-19 has changed all our lives as we know it. We now face a difficult road ahead and have a social responsibility to protect our communities.’.
She added: ‘For now, we ask you to stay home, care for loved ones and, as soon as it’s safe to do so, the Road to the Isles and its communities and businesses will welcome you.
‘Right now, we need to protect all the people that make the Road to the Isles such a unique and special place.’
Many caravans are seen lined up in Argyll today as Scotland urged people not to go there to escape the virus in other places
The Scottish government today said people were irresponsible for travelling to Scotland amid the coronavirus pandemic
Cars and campervans parked in the Pass of Glencoe as many flocked to Scotland in a bid to escape the spread of the virus
Ms Hyslop told BBC’s Sunday Politics Scotland that people heading to the Highlands in campervans or to stay in holiday homes could be putting local communities ‘at risk’.
She said: ‘If they get ill there they will compromise the health or others that are living in the Highlands and Islands.’
She added that emergency legislation being brought in by Westminster would give both the UK and Scottish Governments ‘specific powers’ to help with this.
But she stressed: ‘We’re appealing to people to use their common sense for their safety, the safety of their family and indeed of the vital communities.
‘They will be welcomed back to the Highlands and Islands at some point in the future, just it is impossible right now.’
In London some decided to ignore social distancing regulations and took to the streets anyway to purchase their favourite flowers
A woman wearing a facemask and gloves is seen purchasing flowers from one of the sellers at the market this afternoon
Two people were seen at the flower market this afternoon wearing gloves and facemasks as they ignored social distancing rules
Similarly, Scotland Office Minister Douglas Ross said the UK and Scottish Governments had both been ‘very clear’ in issuing the message to people: ‘Stay at home, don’t risk yourself and others by going to more remote parts of the country where the NHS will be under pressure, the local shops will be under pressure.’
With the emergency legislation being debated at Westminster on Monday, he added: ‘We shouldn’t need to enforce this, but when this Bill is debated in Parliament the powers will be coming to the Scottish Parliament to deal with this if we have to.’
It comes as yesterday the National Trust made a dramatic U-turn and closed all its parks and gardens – leaving many with no where to go for a Mother’s Day walk today.
In addition West Wittering Beach in Chichester, south-east England, has closed to the public after the number of visitors on Saturday ‘far exceeded’ expectations, the estate owners said.
Meanwhile, the Visit Cornwall tourist board published a statement on Friday asking people to postpone their visits to a later date ‘despite the lack of clarity from Government’ around the situation.
This morning in an interview with BBC Breakfast National Clinical Director for Scotland, professor Jason Leitch also warned against people flooding tourist sites.
He said that UK holiday makers travelling domestically don’t have to cancel plans but must continue to carry out social distancing. He added that healthcare services in the Scottish Highlands and islands are not ready for a huge surge in patients.
He said: ‘What we don’t want is hoards of camper vans coming to Fort William because the health service will not be able to manage that, because some people will get sick.’
In a statement on Saturday, Cumbria Police’s assistant chief constable Andrew Slattery said: ‘Whilst we are looking at all measures to limit the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, I must urge people living outside the county not to visit.
‘A national emergency shut-down of businesses and schools is not an excuse for a holiday.
‘Cumbria County Council yesterday urged people to stay at home as far as possible to protect out NHS and save lives. I reiterate that advice and it is important that we all follow it.’
In a statement, Mr Slattery said public services within the county, located in north-west England, are resourced to serve its population of 500,000 and will be ‘stretched to breaking point’ by the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Large numbers of visitors will only place an additional burden on these hard-pushed professionals,’ he added.
‘These are unprecedented times and our first priority is the protection of life. People’s lives must come first.’
Elsewhere, the West Wittering Estate posted a message on its website to say its beach and car park would be closed as remaining open had ‘encouraged an unacceptable movement of people’ into the local community.
‘We understand that the restrictions imposed by the government make us an attractive option for exercise, dog walking, and socialising, but we cannot in good conscience remain open to the public,’ it said.
The National Trust’s move to shut premises comes just days after they said they would keep many of their gardens and parks open for free allowing people to ‘relax and refresh’.
National Trust director general Hilary McGrady said: ‘Despite our desire to keep our outdoor spaces open, the health and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers and visitors has to be our top priority.
‘Having observed the numbers visiting our properties today I am no longer convinced we can maintain social distancing over Mother’s Day when numbers are likely to grow, and beyond.’
On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close in a bid to impact the infection rate by reducing ‘unnecessary’ social gatherings by 75%.
In a statement, the Visit Cornwall website posted: ‘Despite the lack of clarity from the Government, Visit Cornwall is advising that visitors should not come to Cornwall at this time.’
This morning London Mayor Sadiq Khan also told Londoners that they needed to stay in doors to stop people dying.
London is the worst hit city in the UK and Mr Khan today claimed he has been lobbying Boris Johnson’s government in order for stricter measures to be implemented across the capital.
There have been 51 deaths in the capital and 1,221 confirmed cases of the illness.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, Mr Khan was questioned on whether or not Londoners had understood how serious the situation in the capital currently is.
‘I am clear, life has changed and we have to do things differently for a while now.
‘Social interaction will spread the virus. Do shopping for elderly neighbours, only buy what you need.’
He added that people needed to practice social distancing for their vulnerable loved ones and said if people didn’t then they ‘will die’.
Marr said there had been a clear ‘change in tone’ after the government had initially allowed pubs and restaurants to continue to run before it ordered them to close on Friday night.
‘My frustration with government is that only last Monday they allowed me to attend Cobra, things are worse in London, if we don’t keep our social distance people will die. I’m working from home and others should too.’
Asked whether or not parks and other public places should be closed, Mr Khan said people need to recognise the severity of the situation.
‘I have been lobbying the government.
‘There are instructions and rules we need to obey to stop people dying. Making sure there is no confusion or mixed messages, people should not be leaving their homes unless they have to, they can walk dogs or exercise, but mixing socially leads to more people dying.’
He added that emergency bills that will go through parliament next week will give additional powers to police in order to allow them to enforce stricter rules upon the public and social gatherings.
‘Unless people stay at home and stop using public transport then more people will die.
‘Please stop mixing and stay at home.’
He said public transport should only be used for critical workers and said his office has now implemented an ‘enhanced cleaning regime on all TfL estates’.
‘The advice at the moment is not to give them masks, if the advice changes then of course we will change this. But the NHS still don’t have what they need.
‘Stay at home unless you have good reason to leave your home, it’s important everyone works from home’.
There has been much speculation on whether or not London, a ‘city of super spreaders’ would be locked down due to the rapid spread of the virus.
Mr Khan added: ‘We are a global city, we have connectivity around the country and density. All of us need to follow the advice, we are running a weekend service during the week.
‘No one else apart from critical workers should be using public transport.