Short answers, pulled from the story.
Southern cotton accounted for 77 percent of the 800 million pounds consumed in Britain during the late 1850s. This figure represented a dominant share of British textile industry consumption.
By late 1861, the Confederate Congress decided to halt all shipments to Europe. This decision marked the start of de facto popular cotton diplomacy that stopped Southern cotton exports to Britain and Europe in 1861.
Stock in Europe fell from 477,263 bales to 67,540 bales following the embargo. This sharp drop occurred between 1861 and 1862 as part of the cotton famine in Lancashire.
Britain and continental Europe found other cotton supplies and began importing from Egypt and East Indies in 1862. Consumption of East Indian cotton increased from 742,390 bales to 1,034,865 bales to help alleviate shortages.
London worried about the fate of its Canadian provinces during the crisis. Continental Europe had an interest in maintaining a strong United States to balance British power.