As news broke that London had fallen, the next day a minutes silence was held across the country in memory of those that died.
Meanwhile, the infection continued to spread northwards, generally in a northeasternly direction, with army blockades on the M1 being overrun with rampaging hordes of infected, leading to outbreaks of infection in Sheffield exactly two weeks after the first outbreak.
Scientists accross the country scrambled to develop a vaccine to the virus, with aid from scientists from the CDC and ECDC, but progress was painstakingly slow, and some of the labs overrun as the infection spread or as test subjects escaped their confines.
Attempts at evacuating Sheffield were haphazard and chaotic at best, with some evacuation centres not even opening and not enough buses or trains to get people out. Roads were gridlocked resulting in many drivers being killed as they tried to evacuate. Power failures did not help matters either as people struggled to flee the city in the darkness. Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Barnsley fell the same night or early the next morning with thousands of people losing their lives.
Army units began to disintegrate or desert their posts when they started running out of ammo and supplies, and morale seemingly collapsing as the virus spread uncontrollably, allowing the virus to spread almost unchecked by authorities in some areas.
Further west, the infection was spreading towards Manchester and Liverpool, and outbreaks were starting to occur in Wales also, but due to the smaller population of Wales compared to England's, the virus spead slower there, until it reached the capital Cardiff.
On 17 May, thirteen days into the outbreak, a large crowd of infected tried to break through the 35th blockade south east of Liverpool, and were beat back by troops from the 4th mechanised brigade, but once they began to run out of ammunition and supply lines began to collapse, the end came swiftly for the defenders of Liverpool.
The remants of the 4th Mechanised retreated into the city centre, fighting the infected all the way, trying to buy time for the city's population to escape by ferry and plane over the Irish Sea to Ireland, or in some cases the Isle of Man.
The infected advanced eastwards from the ruined city of Liverpool in pursuit of retreating survivors from the army and refugees who couldnt make it out by sea. By 18 May, they had reached the outskirts of Manchester, which was arguably the most brutal engagement of the outbreak.
The infected rampaged through St Helens and Warrington, and rampaged along M602 motorway, killing motorists as they fled the city.
The main blockade on the M602 was defended by the 42nd(North West) Brigade which was based out of nearby Preston, commanded by Major Henry West after the CO, Brigadier John Reynolds, and second in command Colonel Michael Patterson were Killed in Action.
The brigade, despite coming under near constant attack for several days, held out for a long time, even after the virus overrun Manchester.
Manchester was in a perilous position, as it was blocked off from the north and west by the infected, and everything to the south was a warzone. The city itself was suffering for what was bascially complete societal collapse. Running water had been shut off, power had completely failed in the area and sewage overflowed as rubbish piled up in the streets, as there was no fuel for refuse collection trucks. Hospitals were working by candlelight as backup generators began to fail, all schools, colleges and universities were closed indefinatley and Old Trafford Stadium had been turned into a refugee centre. The few police who had not deserted their posts struggled to cope with the increase in crime, as looters stole what they could from the few shops that remained open. Summary executions became common place for looters and rapists and food or fuel hoarders. Funeral pyres in back gardens were the order of the day as disease spread with the collapse of sanitation, and mass graves were dug in public parks or bodies just dumped in churches.
As the situation in the city became untennable, it became clear that evacuation was the only option. The evacuation of Manchester was to go northeast along the M62 into Bradford and Leeds and from there, towards Newcastle, where ferries were going to and fro everyday between England and Norway carrying refugees.
The infected broke into Manchester from the south and east on the night of 18 May, with elements of the 42nd Brigade, the 11th Light Brigade and survivors of Greater Manchester police, as well as some of the Royal Artillery holding the line. MLRS and howitzers pounded the infected in the city centre, as did appache gunships and RAF Tornado jets.
The Battle of Manchester ignited a massive firestorm that would sweep the city for weeks afterwards, the flames could not be tamed by the remnants of Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. The inferno forced what was left of the city's defences to flee towards the east coast of England. Thousands of people who had barricaded themselves in their homes commited suicide rather than burn to death or face the infected. The raging inferno drove thousands of infected out of Manchester resulting in nearby towns and villages being swarmed.
The government knew things were falling apart, and that the military was too overstretched to regain control, or even hold what remained of the country. It was time to cut and run, and save as many lives as possible. What remained of the British cabinet, operating from the now fortified city of York, began to discuss how to evacuate the entire surviving population of the UK to Europe.
The map below shows the general layout of central England and Wales, if anyone is unsure of the geography of the UK. (New capital York is in the north east of the map)