Extinction Rebellion has staged a blockade in Dalston, east London, disrupting traffic at its busiest central junction. Car horns, sirens and swearing competed with drumming protesters, singing and hula dancing. On Saturday the group kicked off a weekend of activity ahead of its summer uprising this week, which aims to disrupt five major UK cities and shock people into action against the climate crisis.

About 50 protesters lined the road with banners reading “thank you for your patience” and “sorry for the disruption” in the hope of placating the public for the seven-minute intervals during which they blocked traffic. Some drivers were bored, others were furious.

“It’s unfuckingbelievable. Fucking peasants, arseholes – you lot take the fucking piss,” shouted the driver of a truck from a recycling and waste management company. He told the protesters his clients were waiting and that his job was at risk.

Tiranthe Amarasinghe, a “conscientious protector” who works in financial services, engaged him in a chat about Extinction Rebellion’s aims. “Nothing changes anyway, we’re fucked, none of this will work, mate,” insisted the driver.

Extinction Rebellion’s east London uprising was three months in the planning. The group staged simultaneous events throughout Saturday – a traffic block hailed “a swarm” at the Olympic park, a critical mass bike ride down the A10, a people’s assembly outside Hackney town hall and an all-day gathering at London Fields of talks and panels. Amarasinghe was keen to stress the latter was not a party or festival.

Extinction Rebellion activists marching through east London. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

On the streets, the reception was curious – largely warm rather than hostile. Several families joined the general hubbub, and passersby stopped to read the leaflets being handed out.

Ian Dickinson, a conservation biologist who has been with the movement since its formation, said: “There is more than enough data to tell us we should be taking drastic action now and we’re not. We’ve got solutions out there as well, but we’re not using them, there’s no point arguing about this stuff, the problem is engaging the middle.”

Dickinson admitted to being taken aback by Extinction Rebellion’s rapid global success. As a decentralised movement aiming to work without hierarchy, it has spawned numerous self-organised branches worldwide and has a presence in at least 80 countries. “I’ve stopped following how many because it’s breaking my brain but it’s going according to plan; we wanted to be gigantic. We just had more modest expectations,” he said.

Q&A What is Extinction Rebellion? Show Extinction Rebellion is a protest group that uses non-violent civil disobedience to campaign on environmental issues. Launched in October 2018, with an assembly at Parliament Square to announce a 'declaration of rebellion' against the UK Government, the group has staged regular demonstrations against current environmental policies. More than 1,000 activists were arrested in April 2019 after protesters occupied four sites across London, as well as blocking roads, disrupting a railway line and conducting a protest at Heathrow. Other demonstrations have included a semi-naked protest inside the House of Commons and blockading streets in London, Cardiff, Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow. The group says climate breakdown threatens all life on Earth, and so it is rebelling against politicians who “have failed us”, to provoke radical change that will stave off a climate emergency. The movement has become global with groups set up in countries include the US, Spain, Australia, South Africa and India. Martin Belam Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu

In the final seven-minute swarm of the morning, police officers quickly intervened as a blue van swerved around traffic and accelerated towards the line of rebels, who held steady and kept smiling.

“People think activism is for those with all the time in the world,” said Amarasinghe, who works long hours in the City. “It isn’t. Since April I’ve noticed that Extinction Rebellion are really getting the message out and I’m giving this as much time as I can. I was completely oblivious before, but it shows activism is for people with jobs and commitments, too.”