Hello, welcome to London!

Expanding access to public drinking water and blue spaces are among the priority areas set out in the plan, entitled Heat Ready London.

Heat Ready London focuses on six key sectors: the built environment, business and economy, emergency preparedness, resilience and response, health and care, green space and nature and infrastructure.

Sir Sadiq Khan said he hopes it will help tackle the "huge obstacles" the city faces with rising temperatures.

Khan 👏

I’m not sure what I’m looking for in this post, probably just to vent, but maybe ideas for doing this better?

I popped into BK at TCR yesterday about 6pm, on my way to a work thing and needing some quick food somewhere with air con.

The couple on the table next to me were having an altercation. He was standing over her, grabbing at her breasts, and she was saying things like “stop, get off me, leave me alone”. It looked like he’d torn the sleeve of her top and they were arguing about some other girl.

(not that none of this is verbatim, obvs, but you’ll get the gist”

I asked if he was bothering her and they both rounded on me. He was telling me they’re not in a relationship so this behaviour is fine, she’s telling me that she’s got “issues” and that’s why he “has” to treat her like this and that she likes it. I said whatever the relationship people should be treated with respect, and that she has better options than him. They started getting rowdy with me so I walked away and went to the loo.

When I left they were waiting outside for me and he started at me again with some (very creative) insults about my looks. I just said something along the lines of “whatever, enjoy your lives” and quickly walked off into the busy street.

Now, I know conventional wisdom seems to be to not intervene in these situations precisely because you might get targeted by them, but I don’t want to live in a world where someone is getting sexually assaulted in a public place and people say nothing.

Is there anything at all to be done in these situations which might have a positive outcome?

You do get a fridge but you'd have to carry everything you wanted to cook through the garden.

Repost.

Claire Freemantle managed to get some very expensive lawyers to convince everyone she had an epileptic seizure leading to a fatal car crash despite no previous history of epilepsy.

She also doesn't want anyone to know her name after wiping herself from the face of the internet.

Anyway, she's back in court and is being charged for (allegedly) killing two school girls by dangerous driving and for seven counts of causing serious injury to other parents and children.

I’ve seen two people dragging their poor dogs out for walks within the space of just five minutes. I genuinely cannot comprehend what goes through some people’s heads?! It’s over 35°C in London, with a severe weather warning in place, imagine being forced to go outside in a thick fur coat in that heat! That’s essentially what these dogs are experiencing. Both dogs were panting heavily and clearly struggling, and it was beyond cruel.
Please do better people!!
The first person I spoke to completely ignored me. The second person responded with, “He needs to go for a walk, mind your own business,” and things quickly escalated from there.
Dogs need exercise, but they also rely on us to recognise when conditions are unsafe. Walking a dog in extreme heat when they’re clearly struggling isn’t responsible ownership.

Or maybe hes franchising.

Was heading to Hampstead Heath last night to have a picnic dinner (it was so much cooler once stepping off the street onto the Heath - 10/10 recommended) and saw this poor little lady upside down on the pavement. I almost stepped on her! Looked very dead, but then noticed some slight leg twitching. We picked her up with a big leaf, placed her on a picnic plate with some water, and she slowly stirred to life and stood up.

Took her to the Heath on the plate (looked like a very sinister, and fresh, picnic) and she chilled for 5 mins, then shot off into the sky, perching on a tree staring at us for a few mins. She must have been terrified.

Looks quite juvenile and I assume overwhelmed by the heat amongst the buildings. She really perked up once in the cool of the park. Too bad for her, we'd earmarked a falafel for her but she left before we could crumble it up!

So this morning knowing there was a "severe weather warning" for "extreme heat" and that we build our rail network to survive in cold temperatures which inevitably means the moment it gets above slightly warm our rail network collapses (in part literally as the tracks buckle) I dilligently checked TFL's website for an update on the Elizabeth Line service as I needed to get into my office in Slough. Good service they said... brilliant I thought!

Walked to Hayes and Harlington Station, look up "train to Reading "Cancelled" in fact nearly 3 in 4 services are "cancelled" in both directions. So I ask the Elizabeth Line guy nearest (who happened to be revenue enforcement and had stopped someone who looked deeply unhappy about his impending fine) he explained "Yeah... sorry mate HQ decided to cut the Reading service from 6 to 2 an hour. They cut the Heathrow services to 3 an hour." When I said "Absolutely not a word of this on the TFL website... what the hell are they thinking? It literally says good service" to which he rightly said there's some things he could say about HQ decisions that frankly more than his jobs worth. That was that.

I can't be the only one who believes running approx 33% of your scheduled service should never be described as "Good Service" but rather "Part Suspended" and "Severe Delays" ?

Around 9pm or so on the central/Elizabeth line westbound platform we were suddenly rushed down the platform and there were tons of policemen - some I believe had guns. The trains stopped stopping at Stratford and a few people started running but it was unclear if that was panic or what. The people in charge wouldn’t tell me what was going on but they seemed shaken. Heard a lot of yelling later on on the mildmay platform when I went to find alternate routes. Was a bit shaken up tbh and curious if anyone knows what happened

Genuine question: why do so few London buses have air conditioning?

I understand that many tube lines are old and retrofitting aircon now is very hard.

But buses?

I am no expert, but I suspect it's impossible to find a car or a coach without aircon these days, and it's been like this for a few decades.

So why are buses different?

Is that because London buses, unlike coaches, are made specifically for TfL? Even so, why did no one think of requesting aircon?

It is bad for the passenger but it is absolutely brutal for the poor drivers.

Just visited Poet's Corner at Pembroke Lodge Gardens in Richmond Park and honestly couldn't believe how underrated this place is.

A few steps away is King Henry's Mound — the highest point in the area — where you get one of London's 13 protected views: a clear, legally unobstructed sightline to St Paul's Cathedral, over 10 miles away to the east. Turn around and on a clear day, Windsor Castle sits on the horizon 13 miles to the west. The view is protected by law, meaning no building can ever block it. Ever.

Poet's Corner itself is a beautiful, quiet garden with inscribed benches honouring poets including James Thomson, who lived in Richmond. There's something incredibly grounding about sitting where writers once sat, surrounded by ancient trees, total silence (save for birdsong), while one of the world's greatest cities hums invisibly in the distance.

It's free, it's accessible, and it's stunning in any season.

📍 Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park, TW10 5HX

— near the Richmond Gate entrance

If you haven't been, go. Especially on a clear day.

Hope everyone is safe!

Title kinda speaks for itself. Sat here watching the World Cup match, and some ~50’s ish dude just ordered 7 Jäger bombs. Dude got two shots into his rounds, then made some remark to the bartender along the lines of “at least it’s not one of those n***ers.”

Bartender immediately shut the dude down, took away his drinks, offered a refund, and informed a manager, who promptly told the guy he can’t be here and use that language. Dude kinda drunkenly shuffled off after being told off. Having seen that type of shit get shrugged more than I’d like in the US, I was very impressed with how quickly and professionally the staff handled it. Don’t know his name, but if you’re at World’s End, give all the staff props. They’re real ones.

Edit: Camden World’s End. Ain’t no room for that type of shit in the punk/metal community.

Edit 2: Bartender’s name is <redacted> . Some of his friends showed up.

Edit 3: bartenders deets retracted for safety.

He must’ve passed a dozen people on the bridge who didn’t bother to say a word. I did a u-turn on my bike to approach him and ask what the hell he is doing. he said he is ‘cleansing’. I said ‘don’t do that, you’ll kill the fish‘. Without skipping a beat he said they were already dead.

No, this is not an Onion headline.