With its vast array of shops and dazzling displays of lights, Oxford Street has long been a top destination for people looking to pick up last minute Christmas gifts.
However, horrified shoppers have claimed central London descended into a new level of chaos this weekend – with swarms of crowds making it nearly ‘impossible to move’.
Videos shared on social media show shoppers packed shoulder-to-shoulder as they try to make their way down Oxford Street.
And in other clips, the problems appear to have become so bad that pedestrians have been pushed off pavements and forced to walk along the road.
Users on TikTok expressed disbelief at the sheer number of people who have descended on the capital this festive season.
One person posted: ‘I thought it would be busy but god d***. Couldn’t even record getting into Selfridges that was something else.’
Another captioned a video of dozens of people trying to cross a road as ‘packed everywhere’.
It comes as statistics show that high street footfall in the West End was up nine per cent on Black Friday this year compared to the same time in 2024.
Videos shared on social media show shoppers packed shoulder-to-shoulder as they try to make their way down Oxford Street
In one TikTok video, central London can be seen absolutely rammed with Christmas shoppers
Shoppers walk along London’s most famous shopping Street, Oxford Street, on Monday
Moreover, the chaotic scenes this year have not just been confined to Soho.
Footage from Winter Wonderland on Saturday shows a huge crowd of people shoving each other inside a beer hall.
At one point a member of staff was forced to physically push back on the railings of the venue as they nearly toppled over.
Festive tourist hotspot Covent Garden was also declared ‘hell’ on Saturday as two shoppers were seen clutching hands as they navigated through the crowds.
Elsewhere, tourists and shoppers thronged to Leicester Square in claustrophobic-inducing scenes.
And amidst the chaotic crowds this December, pickpockets have been allowed to roam free.
Some shoppers in the capital’s theft hotspots have even resorted to putting locks on their handbags to stop their mobile phones and wallets being stolen.
Young couple Teonie, 22, and Finlay, 19, travelled down from Nottingham to spend this weekend in London.
Speaking to the Mail amidst the crowds on Sunday, Teonie revealed that a relative of her sister’s boyfriend had been robbed by a thief on a scooter in London.
‘I feel like I need to keep a hold of my things,’ she said. ‘I keep my bag under my coat and even that has a lock on it. You’d have to seriously put in effort to open it.
‘It’s worrying because everyone is so dependent on their phone. If you lose that and you’re a tourist, you’re in big trouble.’
Her boyfriend, Finlay, was also wary of pickpocketing thieves and made sure his pockets were ‘zipped up’.
Shoppers descend on Oxford Street ahead of Christmas Day
A huge crowd was filmed swarming the beer hall at Winter Wonderland on Saturday
Young couple Teonie, 22, (right) and Finlay, 19, (left) had travelled down from Nottingham to spend the weekend in the capital
One woman from Oxford, who did not wish to be named, added she has now resorted to only bringing a bag she can zip up when she visits London.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s so crowded here, it’s a nightmare. The best thing to do is not leave things in your pockets.’
Kim Molina, 26, explained she is particularly careful when she is in Oxford Street as ‘I’ve heard a lot of people [are] being grabbed from the side’.
‘And it’s normally clusters of people that they (pickpockets) target,’ she said. ‘And they work together.
‘I’ve been here a lot and it is definitely busier around Christmas time.’
This year’s influx of people has resulted in traffic jams and overcrowding at underground stations as large queues form at street level.
Tourist Victor Freddie, 65, described London on Sunday as being ‘very difficult to walk around’.
The Belgian said: ‘London is extremely busy but it is a nice city. I have not yet had an issue with pickpockets, though, thankfully.’
Ricky Wilson, 76, added that London was busy ‘obviously because it’s the last weekend before Christmas’.
‘It’s definitely difficult to move around, it is quite packed,’ he said.
One woman from Oxford, who did not wish to be named, added she has now resorted to only bringing a bag she can zip up when she visits London. Pictured: Oxford Street
A busy Oxford Street on December 21 as shoppers braved the streets of London to buy last-minute gifts
The phenomenon has become a talking point on social media, with dozens of videos showing shoulder-to-shoulder crowds in extremely busy conditions
Another person told the Daily Mail that the London Underground had turned into ‘The Hunger Games’ as a result of the crowds.
On Sunday morning, travellers had to queue for 15 minutes at a packed King’s Cross station just to get to the Underground platforms.
Photos posted on X showed chaotic scenes with people wheeling their luggage through the swamped station.
One user wrote: ‘Never seen London so busy on a Sunday morning. 15 minute queue just to get through the tube barriers down to the platforms at KX.’
Another woman who travelled from Manchester to London last weekend said: ‘It was a nightmare journey.
‘The train was packed because all the services before and after were cancelled – and it ended up taking over three hours because of rail disruption. By the time we arrived at Euston I was ready to get off.
‘But then it was so busy getting into the Tube that they closed the entrance to stop overcrowding. We queued for about 10 minutes just to get in – and then there were major delays on the Northern line!
‘It was carnage. Everything was queue after queue because of how busy it was with people coming in for Christmas celebrations.’
In Oxford Street, people walked shoulder-to-shoulder along crammed pavements which spilt onto the road as cyclists on Lime and ‘Boris bikes’ pedalled around them.
Christmas shoppers on Oxford Street, London, on December 20, 2025. Experts have predicted £3.4billion will be spent on last minute shopping
Ricky Wilson, 76, said London was busy ‘obviously because it’s the last weekend before Christmas’
People are seen entering and exiting Oxford Circus Tube station in London on Sunday, December 21
A TikTok user who uploaded footage of crowds near the Hippodrome Casino said: ‘In December someone will ask you if you want to visit London.
‘It’s very important you say no.’
Meanwhile, the AA has warned that this year will be the busiest festive season getaway on record.
Christmas Eve is anticipated to see a slight drop in journeys to 22.7million with 18.3million cars on the road on Christmas Day.
Satnav company TomTom’s analysis of last year’s data found Edinburgh was the UK’s most congested city, with journeys taking an average of 50 per cent longer compared with free-flowing traffic.
London was the second most congested city, with journeys of 6.2 miles taking more than 40 minutes in the early evening.
Manchester was in third place, followed by Birmingham and Sheffield. TomTom’s Andy Marchant said: ‘Drivers should expect the busiest periods between midday and early evening.
‘Our advice is to plan ahead, allow extra time for your journey and keep an eye on real-time traffic updates to avoid the worst of the festive gridlock.’
The RAC forecasted a total of 37.5 million leisure car trips were being planned between December 17 and Christmas Eve.
That is the most in the week before Christmas Day since the firm began recording data in 2013.
Christmas Eve is expected to be the busiest day for leisure trips over the festive period, with 4.2million of those journeys.
UK airports are also expecting their busiest Christmas getaway in history. Travel trade organisation ABTA estimated that more than five million people from the UK will travel abroad between today and January 4.
Heathrow said it is expecting its busiest December and Christmas Day on record. The airport’s CEO Thomas Woldbye said: ‘We are fully prepared to deliver an exceptional Christmas experience, ensuring passengers enjoy the festive atmosphere across our terminals.
‘Millions of passengers have enjoyed exceptional levels of service across the airport this year and those travelling through Heathrow this December can look forward to the best possible start to their journeys this holiday season.’
