The fallout originated from China, where news of a weakening factory sector and faltering yuen led to Chinese shares on the CSI300 index tumbling seven percent, halting trading an hour and a half early, further adding to the pressure caused by the anticipation of an end to the ban on share sales by big stakeholders this week.

The drop in Chinese stocks comes on the heels of a business survey that suggested manufacturing activity in China contracted for the 10th successive month in December.

Confidence in Britain’s manufacturing sector took a hit in the face of China’s waning growth. The shakeup in confidence was compounded by a survey confirming that manufacturing in 2015 was slower than 2014.

British manufacturers also faced the slowest pace for new overseas orders over the last five months. The main activity index slipping to 51.9 in December, slightly off the 52.7 forecast by a Reuters poll of economists.

Britain was not the only European market to be affected by the situation in China; Germany’s Dax was down more than four percent, while France’s Cac fell by two and a half percent.