The England v Wales Euro 2016 match yesterday kicked off at 2pm which is clearly during working hours for the majority of people who couldn’t get time off work. This triggered a huge surge in UK internet traffic as many office-based staff watched the game using streaming services such as the the BBC iPlayer.

On this particular occasion, there was keen interest as two UK teams were playing each other, pushing up the volume of traffic even greater than when the national team play during normal working-hours.

UK broadband providers struggled to cope with the demand and this had knock-on effects generally around the internet. Many ISP’s have reported statistics double the usual weekday load.
The match also occurred at the same time as news broke that MP Jo Cox had tragically lost her life after being shot and stabbed during an attack in Birstall, which may have also played a part in yesterday’s traffic spike.

As England, Wales & Northern Ireland all look likely to progress to the next round of the competition, more internet traffic surges are the way!