A quarter of all traffic in London was at a standstill during the tube strike

The tube strike was every bit as gruesome as we feared. Anyone who opened their eyes yesterday will have seen the chaos of people trying to get to work, or suffering the oxygen deprivation of attempting to board a packed-out bus as station staff staged a 24-hour walkout from 6pm on Sunday.

Details are now emerging of just how bloody awful it was. According to traffic and navigation app Waze, a quarter of all road traffic in London yesterday was at a standstill – doing nothing, nada. 

At 8am yesterday, peak time for morning commuters, 24 percent of traffic was categorised as 'bumper to bumper'. That's twice the normal level of a working day, with almost 60 percent of drivers caught in traffic jams. Basically, the strike brought total misery on an already bleak Monday morning.

Oh yeah, then it got a bit worse when people tried to go home, with 25 percent of all traffic at a standstill and a further 35 percent in 'heavy traffic' – ie. going at a snail's pace.

The worst routes were Temple to Trafalgar Square, where commuters faced a 40-minute journey to travel just one mile, and Brecknock Road in Kentish Town, where the average speed was 1mph. We really all should have just stayed in bed.

Photo: Scott McQuaide.

Still, it shouldn't come as such a surprise – London has the worst traffic in Europe.

Seriously, London buses are moving slower than a horse and cart.

In other news, it might snow in London this week.