London Prepared Update
Industrial action
TfL
The RMT union has just announced that the planned Tube station staff strike from early evening Saturday 6 to end of service Monday 8 February 2016 has been suspended. This follows yesterday’s suspension announcement of planned DLR strikes in February.
NHS:
Junior doctors (British Medical Association):
Following discussions between the BMA and the Government, this will now be a 24 hour strike from 08:00 10 February 2016, but with emergency cover provided (no longer a full withdrawal of labour). The impact of this is that some surgeries will be postponed and will likely to be similar to what was experienced during the January action.
Zika virus
The World Health Organisation declared an International Public Health Emergency on Monday 01 February. Public Health England have produced a useful summary of the following:
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What the virus is and its origins
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Countries with active virus transmission
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Impact on the UK (6 cases originating from outside the UK)
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Symptoms
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Transmission
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Prevention and travel advice
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Diagnosis
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And more
Other activity
We took part in an event with local authority and private sector representatives to look at how apps can help the public in an emergency. Some of these, like the British Red Cross Emergency App already exist – taking data from public service providers to offer location based information which combine weather, flood and other warnings on the same page – straight to your mobile phone. Technologies using open data, from the London datastore and borough sites like the Open Data Camden have allowed developers to combine data in different ways to provide useful information to the public. These offer an different opportunities to warn the public about emergencies and, more importantly for community resilience, they offer new ways for communities to connect – to share information and to help each other, just like the Team London app.
Weather
Met Office
Continuing very unsettled for London over the coming days with some strong winds and periods of rain at times. Saturday in particular is likely to see some heavy rain and increasingly strong winds. After a quieter but breezy day on Sunday with a few showers, winds will increase again going into Monday.
Next week is expected to remain unsettled with further windy and wet weather.
There are currently no severe weather alerts or warnings in force for London although this will be kept under review given the unsettled conditions expected over the next few days. In particular the strength of the wind late Sunday into Monday may warrant the issue of a warning. View all weather Alerts and Warnings on the Met Office website.
Environment Agency
There are no flood alerts or warnings in force for London.
The Live EA Flood Warnings Map has up to date information on river and tidal flooding.
Air Pollution
Air pollution levels are forecast to be Low.
Terrorist Threat Levels
The threat levels are unchanged
- International terrorism – Severe (an attack is highly likely).
- Northern Ireland related terrorism to Great Britain – Moderate (an attack is possible but not likely).
Transport
Transport for London are undertaking a comprehensive improvement programme across London’s transport network, including the modernisation of the Tube.
For a map showing the planned line closures for this weekend and also bus replacement information, please click here
There are planned closures on the Bakerloo, Circle and Hammersmith and City lines and the London Overground.
That's it for this week, have a safe weekend.
Tom, London Resilience Officer