The UK's week in pictures: Boris statue, Felixstowe delays, and a Queen Elizabeth waxwork

'The National' selects the best pictures from around the UK over the past week

Police officers load into a van a statue stained with oil, depicting Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after it was placed by Greenpeace climate activists outside Downing Street and removed by police, in London, Britain, October 11, 2021. REUTERS / Hannah McKay

A gallery assistant poses by a sculpture entitled 'Dark Place' by Australian artist Ron Mueck, displayed at Thaddaeus Ropac gallery in London on Monday. Reuters

Monday also saw the Tate Modern show off the newly installed 'In Love With The World' by Korean-born artist Anicka Yi. The work, consisting of self-propelled shaped balloons, will be on show in the Turbine Hall until January. AFP

Swiss artivist Dan Acher's aerial climate installation 'We Are Watching' was seen flying above the Scottish Parliament ahead of Cop26 on Tuesday. The size of a 10-story building, the flag features an eye made up of thousands of portraits, contributed from 190 countries. Getty Images

Thousands of shipping containers at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk on Wednesday, as shipping giant Maersk said it was diverting vessels away from UK ports to unload elsewhere in Europe because of a build-up of cargo. PA

Wednesday also saw schoolchildren celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film 'Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone'. The children were treated to a training session by the Harry Potter films wand choreographer Paul Harris in Leicester Square, London. Reuters

Wednesday brought more protests from the group Insulate Britain, as they blocked a roundabout at a junction on the M25 motorway in Thurrock. Reuters

A waxwork of Queen Elizabeth II is escorted in a horse and carriage along the promenade as it makes its way to Madame Tussauds in Blackpool on Thursday. The new waxwork replaces the figure created in 2012 to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Getty Images

Thursday evening saw the opening of 'Light Night Leeds', the UK's largest annual arts and light festival. PA

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson interacts with school children during a visit to Westbury-On-Trym Church of England Academy in Bristol on Friday, ahead of chairing a regional cabinet meeting in the city later in the day. AFP

This week, environmental campaigners Greenpeace erected a mock Boris Johnson statue stained with oil outside No 10 Downing Street, the UK prime minister's official London residence, cargo ships were diverted from Felixstowe port in east England, amid a lorry driver shortage, and Madame Tussauds in Blackpool, north England, unveiled a new waxwork of Queen Elizabeth II.