In Photos: London's historic Smithfield Market Christmas meat auction

The annual Christmas Eve meat sale at Smithfield Market on December 24, 2024 in London, England. For the past century, the historic Smithfield Market traditionally holds a meat auction on Christmas Eve, where traders sell off their surplus meats. Last month it was announced that Smithfield, the largest wholesale meat market in the UK, would permanently close by 2028, alongside Billingsgate fish market, after the City of London Corporation voted to withdraw support for them. The closure will bring to an end over 800 years of trading meat at the site.