Entertainment

The Piccadilly Circus lights have been switched off and it just looks kind of wrong

The Piccadilly Circus lights have been switched off and it just looks kind of wrong
The Piccadilly Circus lights have been switched off and it just looks kind of wrong

The next time you are at Piccadilly Circus, one of London’s most well-known landmarks, you won’t be greeted with the dazzling LED billboard displays.

Instead, you will see a temporary banner is replacing the glitzy lights. At least for the next few months.

The famous display has been switched off for on-site renovations and will stay off until autumn.

What Piccadilly Circus looked like at the end of last year (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
What Piccadilly Circus looks like now (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

And it’s been a while since this has happened. The lights first went out in 1939 during the Second World War blackouts and were not switched back on until 1949.

Piccadilly Circus in 1949 (PA)

Since then, they have only gone out during special events – including the funerals of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana – and power cuts.

During a power cut in 1974 (PA)

A permanent single screen will be unveiled in autumn to replace the current six screens shared by advertisers. It will be the same size as the current space and is expected to be Europe’s largest single digital screen.And it appears some people are feeling a bit nostalgic:

Although, some of us can’t help but think this: