Today’s London news round-up:

More than 70 people have been evacuated from their homes after a huge fire ripped through a nearby warehouse. Metro

A “living legend” DJ who has played every Sunday night at a Hornchurch pub for the past 27 years has decided to stop. Romford Recorder

A north London cat who has helped to save countless lives has been named blood donor of the year. Ham and High

Dozens of protesters expressing support for Palestine Action have been arrested outside a court in southeast London. Metro

Gail’s bakery and coffee chain eye up the troubled unit next to Brixton tube station Brixton Buzz

Beloved pie and mash shop that closed in 2019 after over 100 years at market is set to reopen Islington Tribune

A synchronised swim has marked 100 years of swimming and sisterhood at Hampstead Heath’s Ladies’ Pond. Ham and High

Rupert Clague explores how caffeine-fuelled conversation in Hanoverian London’s ‘penny universities’ helped shape the modern world — and where that same spirit still lingers today. Country Life

A footballer has appeared in court accused of skipping £3,500 worth of food and drink bills in a series of alleged ‘dine-and-dash’ thefts. Metro

The future of Soho institution Balans is in doubt following an email saying the group is ‘no longer trading’. Restaurant Online

And from ianVisits:

The Red Arrows to fly over London for the King’s Birthday flypast

Canada House exhibition explores visibility, loss and LGBTQ+ lives

Tickets Alert: A chance to step inside the original Public Records strongroom

This week’s sale theatre ticket offers from London Theatre Direct

London’s weekly railway news

Things to do in London tomorrow

Upminster Windmill’s monthly open weekend
Upminster
Upminster Windmill has been extensively restored and is now open one weekend per month from Spring to Autumn.

Hertitage buses on route 213 between Kingston and Sutton

The London Bus Museum will be running free heritage buses dating from the 1950s to 1970s alongside the normal daily service on route 213.

Open Weekend: Wandsworth Prison Museum
Wandsworth
View a collection of over 470 objects telling the story of Wandsworth Prison and its development

St Mary’s @ 200: Past, Present, Future
Camden
Celebrating St Mary’s Church, Somers Town during their 200th year.

The London Illustration Fair
Peckham
The London Illustration Fair: Summer Showcase will feature a hand-picked selection of some of the best artists and illustrators out there right now.

London Nocturn
City of London
Cyclists of all ages and abilities can compete through the day and into the night on an inner-city circuit.

Gun salutes in Green Park and Tower of London

Two sets of military gun salutes will take place today to mark the Official Birthday of HM The King

Military flypast over central London

The annual official King’s Birthday Parade on Horseguards will be followed by a military flypast over Buckingham Palace.

Creekside Low Tide Walk
Deptford
With the help of the guides, you will get down onto the river bed, explore the ecology and wade into the natural and social histories of this fantastic urban space.

Up Spirits: Gin Talk and Tasting on HMS Belfast
Southwark
An evening discussing and tasting the traditional spirit enjoyed by officers of the Royal Navy.

Redefining extinction
Mayfair
Author Sadiah Qureshi explores our relationship with extinction, how our understanding of it has changed, and even whether it could be reversed.

Things to do on Sunday

Upminster Windmill’s monthly open weekend
Upminster
Upminster Windmill has been extensively restored and is now open one weekend per month from Spring to Autumn.

Open Weekend: Wandsworth Prison Museum
Wandsworth
View a collection of over 470 objects telling the story of Wandsworth Prison and its development

Marylebone Summer Festival
Marylebone High St
For one day only, Marylebone High Street and its surrounding streets will be traffic-free with over 80 stalls from independent brands across fashion, food and beverage, wellness, lifestyle, and homeware.

Rethinking the future of Haggerston Baths
Bethnal Green
A participatory public event exploring the recent history of Haggerston Baths and collecting ideas for the future of the building

The London Illustration Fair
Peckham
The London Illustration Fair: Summer Showcase will feature a hand-picked selection of some of the best artists and illustrators out there right now.

St Olave Hart Street – Restored from Ruins
City of London
Tours of the medieval church of St Olave Hart Street, whose post-war restoration began 75 years ago this month.

Type-in
Finchley
Type-in — a celebration of typewriters, ink ribbons, and the satisfying clunk of analogue creativity.

World Naked Bike Ride

You may see hundreds of naked people cycling around London today on the annual Naked Bike Ride.

Cruise ship passing through Tower Bridge
Southwark
A note that a cruise ship, the World Voyager, will be passing through Tower Bridge this afternoon.

Monthly open day at Cobham Mill
Cobham
This picturesque early 19th century mill, is situated in delightful surroundings on the banks of the River Mole.

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The flypast is part of the Trooping the Colour ceremony, the ceremonial event that takes place on Horseguards Parade in the morning, and once that has finished and people have time to get into place, a flypast over London accompanied by the Red Arrows.

As it happens, there’s also a rehearsal over the North Sea a week or so before the flypast, so based on that, it’s possible to list which aircraft are expected to fly over London on Saturday.

Barring any last-minute changes, it’s “likely” that the flypast will be made up as follows:

• Chinook helicopter
• Phenom T1 – small jet
• A400M Atlas – four-engine turboprop
• C-17 Globemaster – large military transport aircraft
• Voyager (air-to-air refueller) and Typhoon T3 (Eurofighter)
• P-8 Poseidon (maritime patrol aircraft)
• Typhoons (Eurofighter)
• F-35B Lightnings (5th gen fighter)

…and then the Red Arrows to complete the flypast.

The flypast will take place around 1pm on Saturday 13th June 2026.

The aircraft will line up over Essex, then fly over East London towards Buckingham Palace, where they will disperse over West London. After their flypast, the Red Arrows will head towards Heathrow before heading north towards Beaconsfield.

Generally:

The flypast is in a straight line towards Buckingham Palace from out over Essex, so it will pass over Fairlop, Wanstead Park, the northern end of the Olympic Park and Shoreditch.

You could also try for a view from Horizon 22 or the neighbouring Lookout – but note the viewing galleries face away from the main flightpath, so you’ll see them from behind as they fly over the City of London.

For the Red Arrows, the planes will usually start with white smokes first then switch to red-white-blue as they get closer to the Palace, but the location varies from as far out as the Olympic Park to as close as Holborn.

Although you can see the flypast from pretty much anywhere with a decent view of the sky, the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace is the best place. In previous years, people gathered at the Trafalgar Square end. Once the Trooping the Colour crowds have made their way up to the Palace, the barriers will be taken down, and the public can head into The Mall as well.

Through painting, film and sound, the exhibition explores lives that have been overlooked, erased or only partially remembered, bringing together figures from LGBTIQ+ history alongside personal works that confront prejudice, grief and loss.

Among the cultural figures represented are poet Wilfred Owen and filmmaker Derek Jarman, but also Ian Baynham, who was killed in a homophobic assault in Trafalgar Square in 2009.

The artist knew Baynham personally, and the attack became a turning point in her artistic practice, prompting a more direct engagement with questions of visibility, identity and social justice.

One of the more dramatic pieces is a collage of explicit drawings by the artist Duncan Grant created in the 1940s and 50s, and later found under his bed. The collage uses a contemporary bedframe as the artwork frame.

Most of the other portraits are abstract, inspired by the stories of the people they depict, and there’s also a large collection of small images, all of LGBTQ people submitted by others.

As an exhibition, I might say it’s more of a way to use the art to draw your attention to the stories of the people it depicts.

The exhibition, Lucy Ash: Invisible Portraits, is at Canada House Gallery – opposite the National Gallery entrance – until 3rd October and is free to visit.

It’s open weekdays from 11am to 5:45pm.

All the labels are in English and French, because Canada.

The Public Records Building was constructed in the 1850s next to Chancery Lane in the City of London and is claimed to have been the first purpose-built fireproof building in England. To further minimise the risk of fire, the document storerooms were designed as compartmentalised closed cells.

One of the document cells remains in its original condition, including its bookcases and fireproof slate shelves. And it will open to the public next month as part of a new polyphonic sound installation by Terence Gower.

The installation will present a largely forgotten episode of North American history: the Invasion of Quebec during the American War of Independence. Drawing on his research, the artist interlaces multiple perspectives from the military campaign, while considering the limitations of the archive itself.

As visitors navigate between the metal and slate shelves of the Cell, they will hear accounts from congressional leaders and soldiers on the front line, proclamations by King George III, and transcripts of speeches by Indigenous leaders, asserting their own continuing sovereignty over the lands being contested by imperial and revolutionary forces.

The duration of the audio installation is approximately 30 minutes.

The presentation is complemented by an exhibition of related rare books and historical documents from the period in the library’s Weston Room, curated by Gower with Katie Sambrook and colleagues at the Foyle Special Collections Library.

The exhibition, Enemies and Rascals, will take place at the Maughan Library (entrance on Chancery Lane), from 3rd July to 18th October 2026.

Entry is free, and tickets must be booked in advance here.

Enemies and Rascals by Terence Gower is commissioned and produced by Artangel.

London Underground

More Tube tunnels switch on mobile coverage as rollout passes 60% ianVisits

Exclusive access: Testing London’s next-generation Piccadilly line trains BBC News

Good news for Barons Court tube station users as its long-running repair works are set to take a brief break, allowing trains to serve all four platforms again for a couple of weeks. ianVisits

Elizabeth line

The first of ten additional Elizabeth line trains has rolled off the production line in Derby and is now undergoing testing ahead of entering passenger service later this year. ianVisits

Mainline / Overground

The national rail platforms at Limehouse station in East London will be partially closed until late this year for maintenance. ianVisits

Fire officials are investigating after Monday night’s blaze at a recycling yard in Bermondsey that halted rail services and produced smoke that could be seen across London. Greenwich Wire

SWR’s QR Code Rollout Drives Surge in Real-Time Passenger Engagement  RTM

DLR

The first images of the proposed new DLR stations for the Thamesmead extension have been released as part of the final consultation on the plans. ianVisits

Miscellaneous

Roman gods, Saxon graves and witch marks: The strange and spectacular discoveries found beneath Britain’s HS2 railway ZME Science

40 years ago, on 10th June 1986, Network SouthEast was launched. Diamond Geezer

Greater London’s overlooked Art Deco railway stations London Reconnections

First Putney gym to win community protection now battling TfL over rent Putney News

A train passenger who grabbed a young woman’s hair and asked “can I kiss you?” has been sentenced in the first-ever conviction for harassment based on a person’s sex. Standard (he had also been stalking other women)

Woman ‘sexually assaulted’ on Eurostar train as two men arrested at busy London station  The Sun

Four teenagers have been arrested after a man suffered a broken nose and ribs in an unprovoked daylight attack on a Tube station platform.  Standard

MPs’ and peers’ anger at YouTube as firm plasters Westminster tube station in adverts telling parents it is their responsibility to restrict screen time Daily Mail

And finally: A Miscellany Of ‘Firsts’ On The London Underground Londonist

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The image is from a June 2020 article: Check out this London tube map made from a working circuit board

Today’s London news round-up:

Serious cycling accidents have jumped in Hackney and other London boroughs, a new analysis reveals. Standard

Ealing Council has decided to pull the plug on its arms length housing venture after the scheme left it needing to make huge write-offs and delivered just 180 homes as opposed to thousands Neighbournet

Enfield Council agrees out-of-court settlement with owner of Toby Carvery over Whitewebbs oak tree Enfield Dispatch

A woman was found wandering around the Houses of Parliament in the middle of the night after reportedly locking herself into a toilet cubicle at the end of a walking tour. Standard

Lammas School in Leyton could close amid falling pupil numbers Waltham Forest Echo

A pro-Palestine protester who caused “serious disruption” by climbing Big Ben barefoot and sitting on the landmark for 17 hours has been found guilty of causing a public nuisance. BBC News

Empty again – maybe former pub should be a… pub Camden New Journal

The World Cup may be taking place in North America, but in London, the capital’s hospitality sector is hoping for an uplift in sales. BBC News

A council flat given to the first lady of Sierra Leone has been seized back by [Southwark Council] Standard

‘It’s quirky’: Courtenay duo to use London Cab on tour of 16 World Cup stadiums Chek News

And from ianVisits:

Dress for 1066: An official Bayeux Tapestry tartan has been created for its London exhibition

Limehouse station platforms to close in phases for upgrade works

London unveils a blue plaque for Sir Laurence Olivier

A celestial blockbuster lights up the Saatchi Gallery

The Prime Minister’s estate at Chequers and the footpath that wouldn’t die

More Tube tunnels switch on mobile coverage as rollout passes 60%

Things to do in London tomorrow

Wales, Welshness and the Second World War
Chelsea
Join historian Martin Johnes as he considers the impact of the Second World War on Welsh identity, language and culture.

London Nocturn
City of London
Cyclists of all ages and abilities can compete through the day and into the night on an inner-city circuit.

Our Relationship with London’s Historical Architecture
City of London
A drop-in event displaying Guildhall Library’s Architecture Treasures exploring London’s historical heritage from Norman times to Brutalism

Stories of Valour: Victoria Cross and George Cross
Chelsea
An exclusive evening with Victoria Cross recipient Johnson Beharry and George Cross recipients Chris Finney and Dom Troulan as they discuss their experiences of courage, valour and extraordinary heroism.

I, Vera: Miranda Seymour in conversation with Lisa Appignanesi
Holborn
A talk about the life of the pioneering battlefield surgeon, social reformer and openly lesbian princess, Vera Gedroits.

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Its colours are drawn directly from the famous embroidery, particularly a scene depicting the dying King Edward the Confessor apparently promising the English throne to Earl Harold in January 1066. The shades have been matched as closely as possible to the original unfaded colours used in the tapestry itself.

There is a modest irony about a Scottish tartan honouring the conquest of England, because in 1072, William the Conqueror also invaded Scotland. In this case, it was more a matter of tidying up his “harrying of the north” and stopping King Malcom III from attempting to invade northern England (again), and was settled quickly at the Treaty of Abernethy.

The tartan’s credentials are suitably official. It has been registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans, while permission to use the Bayeux Tapestry name was granted by the Mayor of Bayeux on behalf of the city.

So it comes with both Scottish and French approval.

And for anyone keen to embrace the theme fully, you could commission clothing made from the Bayeux Tapestry tartan ahead of a visit to the British Museum’s exhibition this summer.

The exhibition will open on 10th September 2026 and run until 11th July 2027.

Tickets for the 40-minute experience will go on sale on 1st July 2026 on the British Museum website, with prices ranging from £25 to £33, depending on the day and time of the visit.

Membership, available from £82, includes two free visits to the Bayeux Tapestry during its run (with discounts for further visits), as well as free entry to the museum’s other paid exhibitions.

Members’ booking opens on Tuesday 16th June.

The first phase of works will run from Monday 22nd June to Monday 6th July, when the Essex-bound platform (Platform 2) will remain closed throughout.

During this phase, customers using the Essex-bound Platform 2 at Limehouse Station are advised that there will be no station entrance or exit access for Essex-bound services, and no interchange with the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) for trains arriving from London.

c2c’s Asset & Property Director, Donna Thorpe, said: “Over the coming months, we will be working with our partners at Aureos to fully replace the existing timber platform decking on platforms 1 and 2 at Limehouse station.

“These works include the extension of Platform 1 by approximately 28 metres, providing additional capacity and creating a safer and more comfortable waiting environment for customers.

“In addition to the platform re-decking works, we will also be renewing and upgrading the existing platform lighting.”

The existing timber platforms will be replaced with a modern Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) composite decking system, which will enhance the durability and resilience of the station infrastructure.

Work on Platform 1 will follow later and is expected to last until November 2026.

Unveiled by Ian McKellen, the plaque at Olivier’s childhood home on Lupus Street marks the London address where Olivier first discovered a passion for acting and where the foundations of his stage and screen career were laid.

Olivier lived in the house between the ages of six and 11 while his father served as curate at nearby St Saviour’s Church, where the young Laurence was a choirboy. Family recollections describe how “Larry” turned a wooden box and blue curtains into a makeshift theatre, entertaining audiences with songs, dances and dramatic sketches. During this time, he attended All Saints School in Margaret Street, where his talent caught the attention of the actress Ellen Terry, who is said to have declared that the ten-year-old was “already a great actor”.

Olivier later trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama before rising to prominence through acclaimed Shakespearean performances, including Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III and Henry V. He later achieved international fame on screen with roles in Rebecca, Wuthering Heights, Marathon Man and Sleuth. His film adaptation of Henry V also established him as a major director.

And delivered the famously censored (and later restored) speech about oysters and snails in the movie Spartacus.

Beyond his performances, Olivier played a pivotal role in shaping modern British theatre. As the founding director of the National Theatre, he helped nurture a new generation of actors and playwrights. Honoured with a knighthood, a life peerage and the Order of Merit, his legacy endures through the prestigious Laurence Olivier Awards, which bear his name.

The blue plaque is at 22 Lupus Street, about a 5-minute walk from Pimlico tube station.