The London Minute ⏰ Friday 20 June 2025
Heatwave forecast, fears for Tube drivers, bookshop dispute + cable cars get glass floors
🌤️ Good morning London. Here’s Friday’s London Minute.
☀️ Weekend weather: It’s hot and getting hotter, with no let-up until Monday. Highs of 33C on Saturday and lows of 15C come Monday morning. - The full Met Office forecast is here.
An amber heat health alert has been issued for London. - NHS.
There are 4,000 free water refill points across London. - Find them on the Cool Spaces map.
Transport for London has a ‘comprehensive’ hot weather plan for the current heatwave, but union bosses are worried for Tube driver welfare, reports Harry Low, BBC.
🚉 Rail services between London and Brighton are disrupted, ‘due to a number of (unspecified) incidents’, with the Gatwick Express suspended last night, reports Bob Dale, BBC. - Get live updates here.
🚇 There’s a track fault at Walthamstow central this morning. Check for Victoria Line updates here.
🏟️ A man was arrested after allegedly upskirting a woman at a recent Beyoncé concert. - Rafi Mauro-Benady, MyLondon.
⮑ The Metropolitan Police claimed they have stepped up patrols at major music events across the capital over the summer.
“Every woman and girl has the right to feel safe, whether walking home, using public transport, or enjoying a night out at a concert. Yet too many still don’t. The Met is determined to change that.” - Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ben Russell, lead officer for this summer’s London concerts.
🚔 The family of a ‘much-loved son, brother and father’, Mahad Abdi Mohamed, 27, who was shot dead in Tottenham in March have appealed for information about his murder. - Josef Al Shemary, LBC.
⮑ Police insist Mahad was not the target: ‘The investigation so far has led officers to believe whoever killed Mahad set out to hurt someone else in a pre-meditated and targeted attack.’ - Their appeal update is here.
🚔 A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murdering 69-year-old Jennifer Abbott in Camden last Friday. - Met Police.
🚰 'Our estate's tap water looks like Fanta and smells of petrol - Thames Water still claims it's safe' - Residents on the Lillington and Longmoore Estate in Pimlico speak to Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter at MyLondon.
🇸🇪 Plans for 1,251 flats on top of Greenwich Ikea’s car park have been passed by councillors – even though the Swedish furniture chain warned it may take legal action over the decision. - Darryl Chamberlain, The Greenwich Wire.
🛜 Croydon Council staff have been blocked from accessing local news website Inside Croydon, reports Inside Croydon.
📚 Less than a year after opening, The Scarlett Letters bookshop in Bethnal Green is closing after ‘a bitter dispute between workers and the founder’, reports Agatha Scaggiante in Bethnal Green London.
⚽️ Dulwich Hamlet’s ambitions for a new stadium at Champion Hill have taken a step forward. - Ruby Gregory, Local Democracy Reporter, Southwark News.
✌️ Better news
This section aims to include better news from all over London. It’s a wide range of things, and as always you’re welcome to submit yours here. My hope is that it inspires more civic pride and community spirit, new plans in your calendar and a few smiles or laughs along the way.
🚠 TfL has launched two cable car cabins with clear glass floors. - Laura Reynolds, Londonist. You’ll find them on pod numbers 11 and 29.
⮑ Ross Lydall of The Standard took a ride on the new glass-floored car here.
⮑ You can get 20% off between now and 31 August by using the code “GFE20” when you book online here. (not an ad! The Minute is always ad-free.)
🎶 In a groundbreaking new production of ‘Evita’ at the London Palladium, a pivotal moment of the show unfolds not on stage, but on an outside balcony. Star Rachel Zegler performs ‘Don't Cry for Me, Argentina’ to crowds outside, while it’s live-streamed back into the auditorium. Jill Lawless reports in The Independent:
“News has spread quickly since the show began previews this week, and hundreds have gathered outside the historic venue in London’s West End theaterland to enjoy the free serenade by the “Snow White” star.”
🇳🇬 Tate Modern has announced it will stage the first UK exhibition to trace the development of modern art in Nigeria this autumn. - Full details here.
🥂 £50,000 from London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s £300,000 Summer Streets Fund will go towards a new street market, carnival, and extended car free hours in Leyton’s Francis Road. - There’s plenty of local reaction in the Waltham Forest Echo.
📆 Taste of London at Regent’s Park tops the bill in a busy Summer Solstice Londonist weekend guide.
📌 The London Minute Community Noticeboard returns next week. It’s news you can use, so share your news using the form here.
📈 The most-viewed links from the last newsletter:
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