London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025

Chaos in supermarkets as customers queue for last-minute food shops

Supermarkets have become battle zones today as customers rush to do their last-minute Christmas food shopping.

Huge queues were reported outside branches of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Asda, with some shoppers even left in tears over long waiting times and dwindling stock.

Others took to social media to described their dismay at visiting a store for 6am, only to find everyone else had also had the same idea.

Shopper Andrew said of his morning: ‘Reports from the front line at Tesco at 06.39: It’s already very busy.

‘There are no big shopping trolleys left. Half of the shop is in darkness (I presume to avoid startling the nocturnal shoppers).’

Another customer, who visited his local supermarket just after 9am, wrote: ‘Christmas shops in Sainsbury’s are a war of a different breed.’

While mum Polly Nash stated that she had been unable to get into Aldi as the queues to get inside were ‘huge’.

She continued: ‘Ended up in Tesco. Never doing Christmas food shop on the 23rd ever again! All home by 9am though.’

Shopper Mitchell Smith also joked online: ‘You know what makes me weak at the knees? A queue to get in and out of Tesco at 8am.’

Today’s mad dash to the supermarkets follows an already hectic weekend of spending across the UK.

Yesterday, one parent revealed how she’d seen two children be threatened with calls to Santa in Tesco and had lost her own father in the aisles twice.

Another woman described seeing male shoppers ‘looking lost and on the verge of tears’ as they struggled through hoards of people.

Customer Karen Trelling said of Asda Kingswood, in Hull: ‘It’s heaving in there and I had to queue down one of the food aisles to get to the till, even though I got here at 10am.

‘It’s nearly Christmas and people will be wanting to get their veg so it’s fresh and pick up any last minute bits, so it’s expected really isn’t it. You just have to grin and bear it.]

‘I might have to send my husband next year though and I’ll put my feet up with a mince pie.’

Meanwhile, those heading to the high street during ‘Stampede Sunday’ were estimated to have spent a record-breaking £1,200,000,000 on last-minute gifts.

Around 9,000,000 shoppers visited major centres across the country, where they spent approximately £3,300,000 per minute over a six hour period.

It was the biggest ever amount to be spent on the last Sunday before Christmas to date.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
×