UK users flock to the web during terror threat

Worried surfers flocked to the BBC News site for information

UK surfers headed to news, airline and government sites on the day Scotland Yard announced that it had prevented a terror plot to blow up six planes flying from London.

Statistics released by web monitoring firm Hitwise showed that UK visits to BBC News were up 50 per cent on the day before, making it the ninth most visited site, compared to 14th the previous day. 

Visits to news sites were almost equal to those of 7 July, the day of the London bombings, adding up to 5.26 per cent of all UK visits, an increase of 18 per cent on the day before.

UK visits to the British Airports Authority increased eightfold, making the site the 64th most popular, up from 544th. 

Heathrow and Gatwick airports also saw huge increases in traffic. Gatwick was ranked the 21st most popular travel site while Heathrow rose more than 200 places to number 23. 

Surfers looking for information on the threat flocked to government websites such as MI5 and The Home Office.

MI5 was ranked the ninth most visited government site, up from 254th, while The Home Office saw a sixfold increase in visits to 10th place from 75th. 

Consumers looking for alternative means of transport prompted a 53 per cent increase in visits to Eurostar and a 38 per cent gain for Direct Ferries.