Drivers halted by a traffic jam on the M25 on Sunday, July 13 got lucky after an ice cream van that was also affected. People exclaimed ‘only in the UK’ after seeing what the ice cream man did next
Drivers stuck in traffic on a motorway were pleased when an ice cream van, also caught up in the jam, decided to serve them ice cream during a heatwave on the weekend. A video on TikTok shows drivers queuing up outside the van for a cold treat.
Temperatures over the weekend reached 30 degrees in some parts of the UK and on Sunday, July 12 drivers on the M25 near the Dartford Tunnel were stuck in standstill traffic for around two hours after a reported crash. However, things were made better for those sitting in the tailbacks as one of Piccadilly Whip Catering Limited’s fleet was among the vehicles affected. The team has been operating its ice cream vans throughout London and south east England for more than 50 years.
The TikTok page Smooth Swing Society shared a video on the platform of the drivers impacted by the traffic jam forming a queue outside the van with the caption: “Only in the queue.”
The text on the video also reads: “Most British thing I’ve ever seen #M25”. The clip has gone viral with an incredible 1.7 million views, 261,100 likes and more than 1,700 comments, at the time of writing.
One user said: “The fact there is a formed queue is also amazingly British.” Another commented: “Stand in a queue for ice cream whilst stuck in a queue on the motorway. I love the British.”
Tempcover described the moment as “iconic.” A fourth user added: “I hope that this kind of luck finds me!
“If I’m stuck in this kind of traffic I want an ice cream van to make it better!” Someone else playfully noted: “The ice cream van really turned lemons into lemonade.”
A different user shared their thoughts: “I mean, might as well, you get ice cream while you wait and he makes money. It’s a win/win situation.”
It seems the ice cream van was very popular as Smooth Swing Society revealed in the comments section of the post that one driver in the heavy congestion “walked 20 minutes” to get an ice cream.
Piccadilly Whip Catering Limited took to social media as well with a picture on Facebook of a line of drivers outside the ice cream.
The post’s caption reads: “When they shut the M25 for two hours and you have a non-stop queue, sometimes you have to turn the bad times into good times.”
Kent Online reported that a three-vehicle crash on the M25 stopped traffic anti-clockwise between Junction 3 for the Swanley Interchange to Junction 2 for the Darenth Interchange near Dartford at around 6.05pm on Sunday night.
Kent Police said to the news outlet: “The collision involved three vehicles. Officers and paramedics attended and a motorcyclist was taken to hospital with leg injuries. The road was temporarily closed and reopened shortly after 8pm.”
