UK lockdown: Five remarkable ways the Covid pandemic forever changed life in the UK, from work to the kitchen

• Today marks five years since the first Covid lockdown
• The virus tragically claimed many thousands of lives in the UK
• It also changed the way we lived during the pandemic
• While life has largely returned to normal, some of those changes have stuck

It’s five years today (March 23) since the Covid pandemic put the UK into lockdown, as hospitals struggled to cope with the deadly new virus.

Life has largely returned to normal since then, though we will never forget the loved ones lost during those dark days.

There are some aspects of life in the UK which have changed permanently as a result of the pandemic.

Here are five key ways in which Covid has changed the way we live.

More of us are working from home

Those of us who could were encouraged to work from home during the pandemic to prevent the spread of Covid, and for many the practice has stuck.

While some people missed the buzz of office life, others enjoyed the flexibility of working at home.

Many people even took the opportunity to move to the countryside and work remotely, sparking a short-lived exodus from the nation’s cities.

Although some bosses are keen for their staff to return to the office, there are certainly more people working from home today than there were before the Covid pandemic.

Online learning means snow days are a thing of the past

With schools across the UK placed into lockdown, lessons went online.

Nobody wanted that to last, not least the parents, but the systems which were put in place showed it was possible to conduct lessons remotely if necessary.

That means that when schools do have to shut, for example due to extreme weather, pupils no longer enjoy the day off as they are expected to learn from home.

The impacts of school closures and online learning on pupils’ mental health, meanwhile, are still being felt.

We’ve become a nation of sourdough lovers

Sourdough bread was popular before the pandemic but it became even more so as we found ourselves stuck at home with lots of spare time, looking for a new hobby.

While some of us made banana bread, others had the patience to make their own sourdough bread - if they could get their hands on flour, that is.

The trend for banana bread was short-lived but our appetite for sourdough stuck. Some of us still regularly make our own while others, now with less time on their hands, get theirs from the nearest bakery.

We stay at home when we’re sick

Before Covid, it was a badge of honour for many workers to show up to the office with a rotten cold - as if it was their way of proving their dedication to their boss.

But the pandemic made us all more aware of how easily diseases can spread and how unfair it is to pass on nasty bugs to our work colleagues.

Most, if not all, of us are now better at staying at home if we have a cold or other illness, whether we take a sick day or plough on through and work remotely.

It’s made us more neighbourly

Despite the advent of social distancing, in many cases Covid actually brought communities closer.

We became better at looking out for each other, whether that was checking in on an elderly neighbour (from a safe distance of course) or popping to the shops for a friend with Covid who was isolating.

Since our neighbours were often the only people we saw, we spent more time talking to them, we organised street parties and we set up neighbourhood WhatsApp groups.

For all the bad it brought out in us, like panic buying loo rolls, there were lots of stirring examples of community spirit flourishing during the pandemic - from back garden concerts to volunteering at vaccination centres.

In many cases, thankfully, the bonds created by the pandemic have remained strong and we’re better at talking to and looking out for our neighbours.

How has life changed for you since Covid, for better or worse? Let us know in the comments section below.