Virus worries and rain dampen UK Boxing Day sales

Britain's Boxing Day sales were once again hit by coronavirus worries when fewer shoppers turned out to find a post-Christmas bargain with the omicron variant driving up cases in the UK to record levels.

The number of shoppers in central London up to noon was down 67%. The northern English city of York was similarly quiet amid a nationwide drop in footfall of 45% on 2019. The UK has been reporting more than 100,000 daily coronavirus infections each day since first surpassing the mark on Wednesday.

Tighter restrictions came into force in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on Sunday, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has so far held back on additional measures or closures in England.