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London travel news LIVE: Multiple train lines disrupted after damage to overhead wires near Shepherd's Bush

Three different train lines have been disrupted because of damage to the overhead electric wires between Shepherd’s Bush and Watford Junction.

Trains running between these stations may be cancelled, delayed or terminated and started back from Shepherd's Bush.

The operators affected are Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway and Southern, with disruption expected until the end of the day.

It comes after emergency services had to respond to reports a person had been struck by a train between Kingston and Teddington.

The incident meant all lines in the area had to be closed, as power had to be shut to allow emergency workers access to the railway, but these have now re-opened and South Western Railway trains are now running as normal.

Meanwhile, there was significant congestion to traffic in central London, with at least one major road closed, after multiple horses bolted through Aldwych .

This has now cleared up, with traffic monitoring site Inrix no longer reporting any resulting congestion.

Follow latest updates below...

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Thank you for joining us for today’s coverage of London travel news.

We will be back tomorrow with all the latest developments affecting commuters.

Overground disruption now resolved

Earlier disruption on the Overground has now been resolved.

Passengers had earlier been warned of delays on the Richmond / Clapham Junction to Stratford route due to a signalling failure.

Disruption on Overground expected until 5pm

Overground services between Richmond / Clapham Junction and Stratford will be disrupted until at least 5pm.

National Rail says this is due to an earlier signalling fault at Stratford.

London Overground services to / from Stratford may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or revised.

No service on Bakerloo this weekend

As a reminder, there will be no service on the Bakerloo Line this weekend (April 27 and 28).

TfL says the lack of service will affect the entire line.

Lines to Surbiton no longer blocked

We told you earlier about how a points failure between Woking and Weybridge blocked all lines towards Surbiton, disrupting multiple South Western Railway trains.

Lines have now re-opened and trains are running are running as normal.

London Overground delays now minor

The delays between Stratford to Richmond and Clapham Junction (due  to an earlier signal failure at Camden Road) are now minor - this disruption was severe before.

Good service on the rest of the line.

Shepherds Bush disruption now expected until end of day

The disruption affecting Avanti, London Northwestern Railway, and Southern train services this afternoon is now expected to last until the end of today.

Damage to the overhead electric wires between Milton Keynes Central and Watford Junction / Shepherds Bush means trains running between these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 20 minutes, or revised, says National Rail.

There are fewer trains running to Euston as a result of the disruption.

Disruption to London Overground expected until 3pm

A signalling fault at Stratford means London Overground services are expected to be disrupted until 3pm.

Services between Richmond/Clapham and Stratford are affected, and may be cancelled, delayed or revised, says National Rail.

TfL is currently reporting “severe” delays.

Southern trains not calling at three London stations:

Southern trains which would run between East Croydon and Watford Junction or Hemmel Hempstead will instead be revised to run between East Croydon and Shepherd's Bush.

They are not calling at:

Wembley Central

Harrow & Wealdstone

Watford Junction

You should expect your journey to be up to 45 minutes longer than usual.

This is because of the damage to the overhead power lines north of Shepherds Bush.

Congestion on M25 near Epsom clearing up

We told you earlier about how a lane had to be shut on the M25 clockwise - between J8 (Reigate / Redhill) and J9 (Leatherhead / Epsom) for a vehicle to be revovered.

The congestion caused by this is now clearing up, with normal traffic conditions expected soon.

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Hundreds of passengers stuck in ‘two hour’ queues at major UK airport

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Holidaymakers face yet more hellish delays as summer travel chaos strikes again. 

Photos and videos shared on social media show hundreds of people stuck outside Birmingham Airport.

It comes less than a week after the new restrictions on liquids in hand luggage were scrapped, with many air travellers now desperately confused about what they can and can’t take on board.

Several airports across the UK were due to increase the limit on liquids from 100ml to two litres following the introduction of a new scanning system, known as Next Generation Security Checkpoints. 

But the rollout of these new security measures has been marred by massive delays and even construction problems, with floors at some airports requiring reinforcement in order to accommodate the sheer weight of the new machines. 

Holidaymakers are now being encouraged to arrive early as the mass confusion over what the limits currently are has resulted in considerable delays. 

Shots from Birmingham Airport show the queues were already beginning to mount at 5am today, with reports of delays of up to two hours for people trying to get through security. 

Just joined the Birmingham Airport security queue. It’s 5.18am – let’s see how quickly we get through. Don’t have fast track. I’ll do the job that the @bhx_official comms team don’t. Awful for anybody elderly, with a disability, kids or if it was raining #birminghamairportqueue pic.twitter.com/U8VyicyAog — Wes and Pete (@wesandpete) June 9, 2024

One person tweeted: ‘Birmingham Airport today… two hours of security queues. Get there early.’

Another person wrote: ‘I had Fast Track so it wasn’t too bad at 35 minutes for security but for non Fast Track the queues are massive all over the car park. 

‘When you get inside it is like the Olympics with people running to catch flights. Come on England!’

A spokesperson for the airport said: ‘Our new security area was designed, and resourced, to accommodate the increase to two litres being carried in cabin baggage, this currently cannot be operated with the temporary restriction.

‘In order to have full compliance to this new directive we have further amended our operating process.

‘We now have “liquid check stations” at all entrances to the terminal where colleagues are directly assisting passengers to ensure liquids containers over 100ml are removed.

In the departure lounge at Birmingham Airport. I had Fast Track so it wasn’t too bad at 35 minutes for security but for non Fast Track the queues are massive all over the car park. When you get inside it is like the Olympics with people running to catch flights. Come on England! pic.twitter.com/eLA7x8gjY0 — Douglas Bagley (@dougbagleyfdl) June 16, 2024

‘With these additional checks we have seen a large proportion of customers still arriving with liquids over 100ml in their bags and these have to be regrettably removed and disposed of.

‘Containers that can carry more than a 100ml are permitted but, need to be completely empty.

‘Our security flow rate has been continuous today, helped by these extra checks and we welcome and appreciate the co-operation of our passengers in eliminating oversize liquids from their cabin baggage.

‘The outdoor queues seen today are from “liquid check stations”.

‘Since our new security area opened in May, we have seen continuous non-compliant bags coming through security causing unnecessary queues and delays to customers’ journeys.

‘This new step in the process is to remove the issue before customers proceed.

‘It is now, more than ever, imperative that customers abide by the 100ml rule.

‘This additional layer of control risks slowing down the security process without the support of passengers.

They added: ‘For customers who are less able to stand for durations we advise they book the assisted travel service.

‘However, if a customer is queueing during our peak periods and feels they need assistance then our customer ambassadors are in the area and can assist them without losing their place in the line.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

For more stories like this, check our news page .

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A British Airways flight to nowhere went across the Atlantic before turning back and flying 2,300 miles home after a technical issue

• A British Airways flight lasted nine hours but ended up back where it started after a technical issue.
• The Boeing 787 reached Newfoundland before turning back across the Atlantic to London Heathrow.
• The flight returned home as it is usually easier, and cheaper, to fix problems at a base airport.

Dozens of British Airways passengers endured a nine-hour "flight to nowhere" after crossing the Atlantic twice.

Monday's Flight 195 took off from London Heathrow for Houston about 30 minutes late, per data from Flightradar24 .

After five hours, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner reached the coast of Newfoundland — but only as it began to turn around.

Four hours later, the jet was back in London, having flown around a 4,600-mile round trip.

In a statement shared with Business Insider, a British Airways spokesperson said the flight returned "as a precaution due to a minor technical issue."

Related stories

"We've apologized to our customers for the disruption to their journey," they added.

British Airways has also rebooked them onto the next available flights, provided hotels, and details on how to claim for other expenses.

Going all the way back across the Atlantic may seem like a strange decision, but the problem was minor enough to allow it to reach Heathrow, where BA has a maintenance facility.

For both passengers and the airline, that's likely preferable to a diversion to northern Canada.

Last December, Delta Air Lines sent three jets to rescue passengers from a remote military base in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The flight had diverted there following a technical issue, but freezing conditions and limits on how long the flight crews could work left passengers stranded there for over 24 hours. The 270 passengers stayed overnight at the military barracks.

In a similar incident, an Air France flight from Paris to Seattle was forced to divert to Canada's far north last month. Another flight had to be canceled in order to rescue the passengers from Iqaluit, the capital of Canada's Nunavut territory, which has a population of less than 8,000.

Watch: A glitch in air traffic control left thousands of travelers stranded

• Main content

Lady Louise Windsor Rewears Her Coronation Dress for Trooping the Colour 2024

The 20-year-old channeled her aunt Princess Anne's love for royal rewears.

For Trooping the Colour today, Lady Louise —the only daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh—rewore the floral Suzannah London dress she was first seen in at King Charles and Queen Camilla's coronation last year. She accessorized with a Jane Taylor hat previously worn by her mom.

The dress, Suzannah London's 'Kumiko' Iris silk design , was collaboration with the art of French photographer Rachel Levy. Per the brand, "Levy is a celebrated French botanical photographer whose work has been featured in numerous galleries and books. Her stunning photographs of iris from the gardens of Richard Cayeux, a fourth-generation iris grower from rural France, capture the beauty of these flowers in stunning detail. The Cayeux family have been growing iris for generations, and supplied Monet's Giverny estate with these flowers, which likely inspired some of Monet’s famous iris paintings."

Lady Louise, 20, is the youngest granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth . She's currently a student at St. Andrews University in Scotland—famously, St. Andrews is the university where Kate Middleton and Prince William met , and first began dating . While she is not a senior working royal, her parents the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are, so she joins them on occasion at major royal events like Trooping the Colour. Her younger brother, James, Earl of Wessex , did not appear to be in attendance today.

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma , a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram .

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Money blog: Taylor Swift makes £450 kebab shop order

The Money blog brings you personal finance and consumer news, plus all the latest on the economy. Let us know your thoughts on any of the stories we're covering in the comments box below.

Wednesday 19 June 2024 19:54, UK

Inflation news

• Big moment in cost of living crisis as inflation falls to 2%
• Watch : Ed Conway breaks down inflation numbers - and shows chart that tells very different story
• Interest rate cut will be delayed - markets
• One concerning figure in today's data could delay interest rate cut - economists
• Analysis : Welcome news but question marks remain

Money blog essentials

• Taylor Swift makes £450 kebab shop order
• 'One guy wanted to rent my room for a few hours to meet a friend...' What I learnt from putting my home on Airbnb
• Women in Business : 'How I went from mum with no qualifications to owner of big law firm'
• Holiday money - where to buy it, how to avoid fees, and one thing you must not do
• Best of the Money blog - an archive

Ask a question or make a comment

Couriers for delivery giant Uber Eats will now pick, pack and pay for customer orders inside supermarkets.

Co-op, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are among the supermarkets to sign up to the scheme in the UK.

Uber global head of grocery Susan Anderson said: "It's very clear that grocery shopping trends have fundamentally changed. 

"Our busy lifestyles mean we physically go to the supermarket for a big shop less frequently and prefer to rely more on apps like Uber Eats to order fresh grocery ingredients when we want them."

 The couriers can engage with customers in real time as they shop - so they can ask shoppers what substitutions they want if items are out of stock.

The driver will then checkout using a pre-authorised payment method before delivering in the normal fashion.

It's not yet clear how much more this will cost customers. 

Wall Street's biggest bank is lifting Brussels' bonus cap for its London-based staff , weeks after rival Goldman Sachs fired the starting gun on a post-Brexit era in industry pay.

Sky News can reveal that JP Morgan Chase was in the process of notifying staff on Wednesday that it would preserve some elements of the remuneration packages introduced after the European Union's cap on variable pay came into force in 2014.

The system prevents material risk-takers (MRTs) working in lenders' operations in the EU from earning more than twice their fixed pay in variable compensation.

Sources said that JP Morgan, which employs 22,000 people in the UK, including roughly 14,000 in London, had decided to preserve a significant proportion of the fixed pay allowances used to calculate eligible employees' maximum bonuses.

You can read more of our City editor Mark Kleinman's story  here ...

McDonald's is ending its AI drive-thru trial  after customers reported errors in their orders - including bacon being added to ice cream.

The fast food chain's AI ordering system, developed by IBM, uses voice recognition to process orders and has been rolled out at more than 100 McDonald's locations in the US since 2021.

However, the technology's reliability has been called into question in recent months, with members of the public sharing videos of order mix-ups on social media.

As well as topping a dessert with bacon, the AI drive-thru assistant added $211 (£166) worth of chicken nuggets to another customer's order.

Mastercard has announced it will be changing the way customers make payments  to bring them a contactless experience at online checkouts. 

The card company has said it wants all online transactions to be "tokenised" by 2030. 

The way it will work means you will input your card details to pay for a product once and then you'll receive a "token" - a randomly generated number. 

That number can then be used to make future payments, instead of you having to type in your card details each time. 

"Contactless payments have made in-person payments seamless and ubiquitous – there’s an opportunity to bring that same experience to online checkout," it said in a statement. 

Mastercard said the move will reduce fraud, improve approval rates, and make it online checkouts "faster and safer". 

"As physical and digital experiences continue to converge, we're pushing the boundaries of what's possible," said Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard.

"We're focused on bringing best-in-class digital services together to deliver more value, access and safety to our customers and the end-consumer." 

It's been a really difficult few years for millions of families paying for their energy. 

Many have expressed their anger and distrust in energy suppliers as a result of spiralling prices and shifting goalposts. 

But there are signs that's beginning to change.

Overall customer satisfaction is up 10% since last year, a survey of 15,030 energy customers by Uswitch.com has revealed. 

The survey found that Utility Warehouse and Octopus Energy were the best and second-best at providing customer service and for value for money. 

However, satisfaction with value for money from providers overall is still 17% lower than before the energy crisis, according to the poll.

Uswitch also announced its top five cheapest energy tariffs - see below... 

Every Wednesday we ask Michelin chefs to pick their favourite Cheap Eats where they live and when they cook at home. This week we speak to  Sofian Msetfi, executive chef at Mayfair's one-starred Ormer restaurant.

Hi Sofian - what are your picks for a meal for two for less than £40 in London?

Berenjak  in Soho and London Bridge offers a traditional Persian dining experience - I'd recommend ordering a charcoal grilled kebab for that tables plus a selection of the mezeh-style sharing plates to accommodate a budget of £40 for two. A brilliant dining experience with high-quality and fresh ingredients.  

BAO  (with locations around London) is known for its creative take on Taiwanese street food. They offer some of the best bao buns in the city which start from just £6, plus there's affordably priced small plates, allowing for a diverse tasting experience without overspending. The restaurants also have a weekday set menu with three courses for £15, which is a steal.

Secret Sandwich Shop  in Notting Hill elevates the humble sandwich to new heights – the sheer size of the Japanese Wanpaku sandwiches are incredible and so filling. It's a great find, hidden behind a secret door in Notting Hill, with the signature "Secret Sandwich" priced at £9, meaning you can each get a sandwich plus a generous selection of classic snacks and even some Japanese drinks for £40. 

What's your go-to cheap meal at home?

A braised lemon chicken with green olives. You can use chicken thighs or legs in this recipe (which are often much cheaper). It's easy and quick, everything goes in the dish together and cooks at the same time. One of my favourite tips is to use some of the olive brine from the jar when cooking as it really enhances the flavour of the dish.

We've spoken to lots of top chefs and bloggers - check out their cheap eats from around the country here...

Taylor Swift has reportedly ordered 45 large kebabs for her team ahead of her Wembley Stadium show.

The singer is set to perform in front of up to 90,000 fans on Friday in the first of eight Eras Tour shows at the London venue.

But before that, her staff will be tucking into £450-worth of chicken donor kebabs made by Kentish Delight, according to The Sun.

The takeaway restaurant is thought to be a favourite of Taylor's, having featured in the music video for End Game in 2017.

"Taylor adds garlic sauce to hers, as well as heaps of salad," a source told The Sun.

The newspaper previously reported the star bought hundreds of Greggs sausage rolls, steak bakes and bakery goods for her team when performing in Edinburgh.

Cricket salads, lab-grown steaks and azolla burgers could be staples on British menus in 30 years' time, according to the Co-op. 

Using AI and research from experts from FixOurFood and the University of York, the retailer predicted what mealtimes could look like in 2054. 

They predict a rise in urban indoor farming across Britain, which will in turn see lab-grown meat and seafood - cultivated from animal tissues to produce steaks, burgers, tuna and lobster - become more mainstream.

Another part of the report suggested climate change would result in the likes of avocados and olives being grown in Surrey by 2054 - meaning less reliance on importing vegetables. 

"By 2054, British people will have edible insects on their dinner plate, and we may see the crushing up of crickets quicker than wholegrain," project researcher Bob Doherty said. 

"We may even see the introduction of 3D-printed food. As we navigate the challenges of climate change, we'll need to embrace these innovations to ensure that we can feed a growing population sustainably."

After spending the morning reacting to the positive news on inflation (and less positive news on interest rates), we're going to start posting other personal finance and consumer news again now.

We'll still have any reaction coming in on the economy.

Our  economics and data editor Ed Conway  has been poring over this morning's data drop from the Office for National Statistics. 

"In one sense this is a watershed moment," he says, inflation having dropped to the target 2%.

But looking at the data another way - at overall inflation over the last three years rather than annual figures - the numbers tell a different story. 

By doing so, you can see there's closer to a 20% increase in prices since the start of the cost of living crisis - rather than the 2% increase we've recorded in the 12 months from May last year to May 2024. 

And this figure - basically, prices - is still going up, just slower than it was before.

Watch Ed's full analysis here... 

We have one more chart to show you in response to inflation having fallen to the target of 2% in May.

Like much of today's data, it is primarily good news - wages are going up significantly more than inflation.

For workers to whom this applies, it's rightly a cause for some cheer after a period of falling living standards and skyrocketing prices.

But for the economy, there's a flipside - high wage growth is inflationary, as businesses either have to absorb wage increases or put up prices. It also means people have more money to spend - again, when this happens prices tend to go up faster.

This chart illustrates how wage growth - after lagging behind price rises for some time - is now ahead...

May's fall in inflation cannot disguise "the worst period for living standards in modern times", Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Paul Nowak has said.

Reacting to today's data, he said: "Over the last three years UK families have suffered the highest price rises in the G7 - with inflation going up more over that period than it usually does over an entire decade.

"Ministers can try to rewrite history all they like. But the Conservatives have presided over the worst period for living standards in modern times.

"Food and energy bills have surged. Rents and mortgages have skyrocketed. And real wages are still worth less than in 2008."

There are nearly 50 affiliated unions under the TUC banner with a total of about 5.5 million members.

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Paris loses stock market crown to London as political upheaval looms

By Anna Cooban, CNN

London (CNN) — London’s stock market has edged ahead of its rival in Paris as fears grow over the outcome of France’s looming parliamentary elections.

All stocks listed in France are now worth about $3.13 trillion in total, compared with $3.18 trillion for all shares listed in the United Kingdom, Bloomberg reported Monday, based on the data it had compiled.

On Tuesday, the CAC All-Share index in Paris was still marginally bigger than London’s FTSE equivalent, but the latter only accounts for 98% of the market value of UK-listed shares.

London’s comeback as Europe’s biggest equity market is “mostly” the result of French President Emmanuel Macron calling snap elections for June 9 after his party was trounced by the French far right in a vote for European Union lawmakers, according to Axel Rudolph, a senior market analyst at trading platform IG Group.

“Financial markets don’t like uncertainty, and the fact that you’ve had such a shift to the right in the French European elections has led people to worry (about what comes next),” he told CNN.

Since June 9, the CAC 40 of leading French stocks has shed more than 5% of its value — equivalent to $160 billion — as investors ponder the prospect of the far-right National Rally playing a much bigger role in the parliament of Europe’s second-largest economy.

The first round of the French elections is scheduled for June 30, followed by a second round on July 7.

An opinion poll by research firm OpinionWay released Friday showed that 32% of respondents intended to vote for the National Rally in the first round, 25% for a coalition of left-wing parties, and 19% for Macron’s centrist party.

French banking stocks have fared particularly badly since Macron called the elections. Shares in Société Générale have tumbled nearly 14%, while shares in BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole have fallen 10.6% and 11.2% respectively.

Hubert de Barochez, a senior market economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said investors might be concerned that a parliament run by the National Rally would penalize banks.

“Generally, quite populist governments attack banks and their proceeds… (There) might be fears about additional taxes on banks,” he told CNN.

Another reason for the rout in French banking stocks is the fact that “banks own quite a lot of the country’s public debt,” he added.

The prices of those government bonds have fallen since June 9, driving up their yields or interest rates demanded by investors as they see a higher risk in holding the debt.

A parliament dominated by the far right could make it harder to reduce France’s huge government debt pile, equal to 110.6% of gross domestic product at the end of last year, and could even add to it. A bitterly divided assembly would also struggle to cut the budget deficit — the gap between government spending and tax receipts — which  reached 5.5%  of GDP last year.

In contrast with the political and financial turmoil in France, UK financial markets are “relatively stable,” said Rudolph at IG Group. The UK is gearing up for its own general election on July 4, which the opposition Labour Party is predicted to win by a wide margin.

In addition, now that uncertainty surrounding Brexit has subsided and Britain has come out of a short recession, investors are snapping up stocks in UK companies, attracted by their low valuations compared with US stocks, Rudolph added.

Similarly, Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, an investment platform, wrote in a note Tuesday: “There are increasing signs that the UK is gaining some favor among overseas investors, given its mix of stable, cash-generative companies which are cheap by comparison (with French stocks) by historic standards.”

On the other side of the English Channel, the National Rally has promised to raise public spending and slash VAT on electricity and fuel if it comes to power.

Credit ratings agencies are already keeping a close eye on France, one of the EU’s three most-indebted countries. Last month, S&P  downgraded  the country’s long-term credit score and said it expected its budget deficit to narrow to 3.5% of GDP in 2027, well above the 2.9% targeted by the current government.

Mohit Kumar, chief economist for Europe at Jefferies, an investment bank, wrote in a note Tuesday: “Our view on France remains that yes, we should be worried about the debt and deficit picture… We do not see French deficit coming below 3% over the next five-year horizon.”

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