The United Kingdom is in official mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week.
Huge crowds have gathered to see the late monarch’s coffin, which was moved from Buckingham Palace to London’s Westminster Hall on Wednesday, where it will lie until his funeral on Monday.
With the funeral day declared a public holiday, many businesses have said they will close their doors for the day, but the disruption to daily life won’t end there.
“Non-urgent” hospital appointments, some flights and school classes will also be canceled as organizations try to allow staff to pay their respects to the late monarch.
Here’s a rundown of what Brits won’t be able to access on Monday.
Health care fears
The short-term holiday has led to frustration over widespread cancellations by public healthcare providers, with hospitals across the UK postponing “non-urgent” consultations and procedures, including maternity appointments, surgeries and some treatments against the cancer
“Our services will be reduced to allow staff and patients to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate her reign,” Bradford Teaching Hospitals, which oversees six hospitals in the north of England, said in a statement. “We are working hard to ensure any disruption is kept to a minimum, but due to the bank holiday some planned activities such as surgery, outpatient appointments and day cases will be cancelled.”
The trust added that all its urgent and emergency services will continue as normal.
Many of those with appointments have been left in limbo, some have not been given an alternative venue or are still waiting to be told if their appointment will go ahead.
Frustrated patients have taken to Twitter to show their irritation at having their appointments cancelled, with a person calling the closures “scary and sad,” while an American epidemiologist named the movement “Stupidest thing ever.”
An Essex, England-based woman had her prenatal mental health appointment rescheduled for Monday, but was told her new appointment could be delayed if other appointments exceed their allotted times.
“I have a history of eating disorders and have been struggling with antenatal depression,” she said. the fortune. “I’m really upset about my appointment being canceled – I had it in my diary for three weeks and I trusted it. My pregnancy is high risk and very scary. I’m only six to seven weeks into my pregnancy , so any delay is stressful.”
Another woman who was due to have a maternity check-up on Monday but put it off because of the Queen’s funeral, said the fortune the cancellation was concerning because she had a high-risk pregnancy and a high probability of developing gestational diabetes.
On Tuesday, he received a text message telling him the “sad news” of the Queen’s death and the bank holiday it fell on meant his appointment would be cancelled, with a new appointment to be arranged “on its time.”
The woman has since received a new appointment but said she did not understand why the holidays meant hospital appointments were being cancelled.
“I can only imagine how people with more serious conditions feel,” she said.
Dr Julia Patterson, founder and CEO of advocacy group Every Doctor, said health workers would be “damned if they do and damned if they don’t”.
“I’m sure if NHS staff hadn’t watched this occasion they would have been attacked,” said one tweet. “[But] if they take the holiday, it leads to problems”.
Monday’s appointment cancellations come as a record 6.8 million people are waiting for NHS treatment, after the pandemic exacerbated an existing waiting list problem in Britain’s public health service.
Education and childcare
Schools and colleges will be closed on Monday, while many nurseries and preschools will also not open.
Universities will also be closed, with many higher education institutions saying they are canceling operations for the day to allow staff and students to mourn.
Store closures
A range of UK retailers have also said they plan to close to the public on 19 September.
Supermarket giants Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl and will remain closed, while Asda will not open until 5pm.
During the period of national mourning, which will end after the funeral on Monday, Morrisons has also turned down the ‘beep’ sound on its cash registers and stopped playing music in its stores.
Grocers Tesco and Sainsbury’s will keep their big stores closed and open their convenience stores at 5pm, with both retailers planning to open some of their central London stores earlier to cater for commuters to the capital to pay their respects. the Queen.
Department store chain John Lewis will not open its stores on Monday, while clothing stores Primark and Jack Wills have also announced they will be closed.
Home goods stores Ikea, Homebase and B&Q, video game chain Game and pet store giant Pets at Home are also among the major stores that will not be open on the bank holiday.
Flights and transport
Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority said on Thursday that there will be restrictions on the airspace over and around London in the coming days. The organization noted that it would be unlikely that travelers would receive compensation for canceled flights, as the cancellations would be caused by “circumstances beyond the airline’s control”. However, airlines should offer alternative travel arrangements, the CAA said.
On Wednesday, London’s Heathrow Airport canceled flights to ensure they did not disturb the procession of the Queen’s coffin as it moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.
Drone flights over central London have also been banned ahead of the Queen’s funeral.
At least 16 British Airways flights departing London Heathrow Airport on Monday have already been cancelled, while London Stansted Airport has warned travelers should prepare for disruption.
Mourners hoping to make their way to London to pay their last respects to the late monarch have been warned to expect “unprecedented” demand on transport and at train stations, with hundreds of thousands expected to make the journey.
While capacity on train networks around London is expected to increase to allow people to travel into the capital on the day of the funeral, many local bus operators will be running reduced services on Monday.
leisure
Most of the UK’s major cinema chains, including Odeon, Showcase and Cineworld, will be closed on Monday.
Cinema operators Vue, Curzon and Arc will use their cinemas to screen the Queen’s funeral to the public for free.
Bowling operator Hollywood Bowl will be closed until 1.30pm, while PureGym, which runs 320 gyms across the UK, will close its sites between 10am and 2pm on Monday.
Many local libraries will also be closed on public holidays.
Meanwhile, Centreparcs, which runs woodland lodge-style holiday camps, descended into a public relations disaster when it revealed it planned to evict holidaymakers from their sites for the day on Monday.
After a furious backlash, the company backtracked, somewhat, saying it would allow people already on vacation to stay, but anyone arriving on Monday has been told to delay their arrival until on Tuesday, a move that invited further criticism.
Postal and courier services company Royal Mail, which was founded by Henry VIII in 1516 and claims to be one of the oldest organizations in the world, will suspend its services on the day of the Queen’s funeral.
