UK gas stations run dry as trucker shortage sparks hoarding

Thousands of British gas stations ran dry on Sunday. Cars could be seen queuing down a busy road at a petrol station in Islington, North London on Sunday evening.

The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents almost 5,500 independent outlets had sold out their fuel, with the rest “partly dry and running out soon.” The shortages were the result of “panic buying, pure and simple.”

The U.K. is short tens of thousands of truckers, due to the coronavirus pandemic, an aging workforce and an exodus of foreign workers following Britain’s Brexit departure from the European Union last year.