Yay! Now we can wait for the backlash against this non-event; the media will be looking for Friday night to report chaos, and if the blizzard moves in then that won’t happen, and we can just “get over it”:

[news.bbc.co.uk]

As late licensing is introduced, are fears about extended hours for pubs, clubs, bars and shops borne out in towns and cities across England and Wales? Supporters of longer hours say they will bring England and Wales in line with Europe and allow “grown-up” drinking, while critics say it will further fuel the British tendency to binge drink.

The government says it will tackle problem drinkers and that staggered closing times will help police.

BBC reporters gave their impressions of the first full night:

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Generally it’s been pretty quiet, police say there have been no major problems. Most door managers have said it has been slightly quieter than usual because of the cold weather

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It’s been pretty quiet. We have spent the night in the Pavilion pub, which has extended its hours from 0100 to 0200 on weekdays. Numbers of drinkers out tonight are actually down, which may be due to the icy conditions. There’s been no trouble, some people were saying it was great that they had time to get ready and didn’t have to rush out.

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It’s quite dead tonight, there’s not that many people out at all. People are being sensible, they are not going mad or anything.

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It has been a quiet night. Police said they had had one alcohol-related incident in which a young woman was taken to hospital.

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It’s very quiet here, it’s just so cold I think people have decided to stay in. It’s just the same as any other Thursday night.

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Thursday is generally a quiet night in Luton, and the arctic November winds certainly weren’t helping. All evening the streets were ghostlike with just a few hardened pub-goers prepared to face the elements for the privilege of a late-night pint.

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It’s not a particularly rowdy night. Although the centre of the city is noisy and there are a lot of partygoers and single-sex groups, those are the usual features of a Newcastle night out.

So much for instant booze-laden chaos nationwide.