The FTSE 100 Index opened down 53.3 points to 5795.3 on Monday amid uncertainty over global growth prospects.
The main London market was 112.2 points lower in mid-morning trading, down 1.92 per cent on Friday's close to 5,736.5 at 11am on Monday.
The CAC 40 index in Paris was down 2.26 per cent in early Monday trading and Germany's DAX Performance Index was down 2.48 per cent.
Housebuilders were some of the worst performers in Monday trading in London, with Persimmon down 1.83 per cent, Taylor Wimpey down 3.03 per cent and Barratt Developments down 2.47 per cent.
Broadcasting and telecoms were also badly hit on Monday, with BT shares dipping 1.57 per cent on news finance director Tony Chanmugam, who joined the group in 2008, may step down this year.
BT said the search process has commenced to find a successor for Chanmugam though “no formal decision has been taken on a replacement or around the potential timing of any change”, the group said.
Shares in broadcaster Sky were also down 3.2 per cent in early Monday trading and ITV was down 4.19 per cent.
Scottish fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management saw its shares fall 3.2 per cent in early Monday trading, continuing a downward trend from an April 2015 high of 506.5 pence to 234.4 pence on Monday.
Standard Life was also down 1.16 per cent.
In banking, Royal Bank of Scotland Group was down 2.19 per cent, Lloyds Banking Group was down 1.42 per cent, Barclays was down 1.91 per cent and HSBC was down 3.15 per cent.
Oilfield services giant Wood Group was also down 6.26 per cent in early Monday trading and energy giant SSE was down 1.44 per cent.
BP was down 2.82 per cent, Shell was down 2.38 per cent and Total SA was down 2.29 per cent.
