Don't show me this message again✕ People at Kings Cross train station in London on December 20 (EPA) The rapid spread of the Covid-19 Alpha variant in Britain during the Autumn last year was a “super-seeding event” that did not slow down until harsh lockdown restrictions were put in place, a new study has revealed. The proliferation of the virus was driven by biological changes that made it more transmissible, but also because a large amount of people were travelling to different parts of Britain from London and the south-east where it originated. Researchers said that mobility of the virus did not begin to slow until after Tier 4 Covid restrictions were implemented, but export of the Alpha — or ‘Kent’ — variant did not lessen until early January because of increasing case numbers.