As the nation mourns the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, the period of mourning officially begins across the nation.

As part of the mourning period members of the public are invited to pay their respects in Westminster Hall.

The hall will stay open for 24 hours a day for four days for crowds to view the Queen's coffin. 

However, commuters have now been advised that they may want to “change their working patterns accordingly” as London will be “extremely busy” for the Queen’s lying in state, No 10 said.

It comes as the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “At this point, we can’t be more specific on numbers. We do expect it to be extremely busy.

Mourners pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

“I think for the Queen Mother it was around 200,000 people (who attended), we expect (it) to be far more than that for this lying in state. But at this point, but we can’t be more specific into exact numbers.”

When discussing whether commuters should work from home this week they said some people “may wish to change their working patterns accordingly”, but acknowledged “not everyone will have that ability”.

Asked if there will be any facilities for people who physically cannot queue for 30 hours, they said: “Obviously we want everyone to be able to attend regardless of whether they have disabilities.

"Our focus is on ensuring they have the information needed to make the decision about what’s right for them.

“There will be toilet facilities, there will be first aid available, there will be the ability for people obviously to go and use toilets and return to queues and things like that.”