British Prime Minister David Cameron chaired an emergency meeting in London Tuesday after cutting short his holiday because of riots spreading across the United Kingdom. Violence, arson and looting took place for the third night in London and broke out in at least four other cities.

As riots spread to Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds and Birmingham, Cameron boarded a military flight at 3am, breaking off his holiday in the Italian region of Tuscany. He was to chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee.

The Netherlands-England friendly football match scheduled for Wednesday at Wembley has been cancelled.

Although 1,700 extra officers had been draughted in to the capital, police were overwhelmed as the violence also hit new areas of London.