Brussels remains on ‘lock down’
The popular city-break destination of Brussels remains on high alert, with its metro and tourist attractions closed again on Monday.
On Friday, the country raised the national threat level to its highest level, ‘very serious’, for the Brussels region.
Extra police and military were drafted in to patrol the streets and the city was on ‘lock down’ over the weekend.
With the belief that the threat of a terrorist attack is ‘serious and imminent’, the Government has closed all schools and universities on Monday and some employers are advising’ employees to avoid coming into the office.
Eurostar said that passengers travelling to Brussels any day up to and including today, Monday November 23, were able to exchange tickets for another day, despite it running a full service.
It warned that due to a heightened state of security in Brussels, local transport may not be running and some events within the city will be cancelled.
The measures in Brussels follow the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13 and subsequent police raids in Belgium and France.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth said visitors are advised to avoid places where there is a high concentration of people including concerts, large events, stations and airports, public transport, and busy shopping centres.
The threat level for the rest of Belgium is at ‘level 3’, which means a ‘possible and real threat’.
Meanwhile, Germany has tightened security at its Christmas markets and other large gatherings.
Many of the country’s festive markets are due to start this week.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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