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On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would enter a full lockdown from midnight on Thursday until the end of November due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. 

With hours to go before the month-long national lockdown takes effect, videos have surfaced on Twitter, showing massive traffic jams of people trying to escape the city as lockdowns go into effect. 

“Traffic is barely moving in every direction as far as the eye can see. Lots of honking and frustrated drivers,” said one Twitter user. 

Incredible traffic jam in Paris as people try to leave the city before 9 pm curfew and before confinement begins at midnight. Traffic is barely moving in every direction as far as the eye can see. Lots of honking and frustrated drivers. pic.twitter.com/6Zn2HCxuPl

— Michael E. Webber (@MichaelEWebber) October 29, 2020

Another Twitter user suggests “traffic jams around Paris tonight” could be due to “people leaving the capital before lockdown.”

Repeating in English – lots of traffic jams around #Paris tonight. Not clear but could be people leaving the capital before #LockDown2 kicks in. #France #confinement2 pic.twitter.com/UGa13x8JVe

— S Kar-Gupta (@SKGLondonTown) October 29, 2020

Using real-time data to confirm, that, in fact, the videos posted by citizen journalists in Paris are accurate – TomTom traffic data shows much of the city is in serious gridlock. 

TomTom real-time data shows a massive spike in Traffic Thursday night, the highest congestion so far this week, as lockdowns are only a few hours away. 

While people flee Paris ahead of lockdowns, it wouldn’t be shocking if anti-lockdown protests flared up across the city this weekend.