https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_the_United_Kingdom#Early_to_mid-March_2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_the_United_Kingdom#Early_to_mid-March_2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_t... On March 16th there was a request to avoid "non-essential travel and contact with others", on March 20th pubs and resturants were forcibly closed, and by 23rd the restrictions on movement were being put into law. The three-day period I was thinking of was the 20th-23rd; the number of people out and about on the weekend of 21st/22nd was widely reported as the reason for the stricter rules the following Monday e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/23/boris-johnson-orders-uk-lockdown-to-be-enforced-by-police https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/23/boris-johnson-... If, however, you mean "what's the proof that people were ignoring the pre-lockdown restrictions in sufficient numbers to make the stricter provisions necessary", all I can do is point out that the people with the best access to that data did chose to require the stricter provisions in response to what they saw. For more you're going to have to wait for the inevitable public enquiry (and I am deeply deeply uninterested in having a discussion about whether lockdowns are the only or most effective policy here).