Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action

It's not looking good at the moment.

Happily for me personally, my habit of going to work late and then staying late has meant that I am nowhere near Central London, and with very little hope of getting there today.

The incident at Liverpool Street Station just before 9 this morning was thought to be an explosion due to a power surge, and this line seems to have been adhered to even after a separate incident at Edgeware Road station which is around 8 miles away.

It has now been confirmed that a double-decker bus has exploded in Tavistock Square or Russell Square outside the BMA.

This does not seem to me to be the effects of mere happenstance.

Many, but not all, mainline stations are now closed, and overland rail services are stopping outside London. The entire Tube network has been evacuated.

Understandably, the news is very confused at the moment, and reports vary. You don't get accidents like this; someone has deliberately set out to cause as much disruption as possible. It appears that there have been explosions at Liverpool Street, Edgeware Road, King's Cross and a couple of other places, but sorting rumour from fact is not easy at the moment.

Unsurprisingly, the BBC News website is sluggish; I expect it's getting more hits now than it has done for some time.

Edit The reason your mobile phones won't work in the area is because the network has been switched off so that phones can't be used to trigger explosives. Most, but not all networks in the centre have been switched off.

Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action

It's not looking good at the moment.

Happily for me personally, my habit of going to work late and then staying late has meant that I am nowhere near Central London, and with very little hope of getting there today.

The incident at Liverpool Street Station just before 9 this morning was thought to be an explosion due to a power surge, and this line seems to have been adhered to even after a separate incident at Edgeware Road station which is around 8 miles away.

It has now been confirmed that a double-decker bus has exploded in Tavistock Square or Russell Square outside the BMA.

This does not seem to me to be the effects of mere happenstance.

Many, but not all, mainline stations are now closed, and overland rail services are stopping outside London. The entire Tube network has been evacuated.

Understandably, the news is very confused at the moment, and reports vary. You don't get accidents like this; someone has deliberately set out to cause as much disruption as possible. It appears that there have been explosions at Liverpool Street, Edgeware Road, King's Cross and a couple of other places, but sorting rumour from fact is not easy at the moment.

Unsurprisingly, the BBC News website is sluggish; I expect it's getting more hits now than it has done for some time.

Edit The reason your mobile phones won't work in the area is because the network has been switched off so that phones can't be used to trigger explosives. Most, but not all networks in the centre have been switched off.

More

The BBC have just reported that Swindon station has been evacuated.

More

The BBC have just reported that Swindon station has been evacuated.

Thoughts on the day

I am quietly proud of my adopted city today. Proud of the emergency services in particular, and of the people in general.

For all the individual stories of horror from the attack sites themselves (and some of the stories have been quite horrific - the bottom of a Tube train being blown out while travelling underground, a passenger being sucked into the tunnel into the path of an oncoming train from the other direction...), there has remained an air of calm, with no general panic, and only very few instances when the attacks took place.

Particularly, the Metropolitan Police and the emergency services have worked quickly, quietly and efficiently, to contain and limit the situation. The continued air of calm and control is in no small way down to these people. Our much-maligned health service is coping splendidly, and people have been volunteering to donate blood and other aid.

Those of us who have lived in London (or indeed any of a number of major UK cities: Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast, to name but three)for any length of time will be aware of the attempts of terrorists to destroy the fabric of life and the morale of the people. It doesn't work; it will never work. People in the UK, no matter their ethnic, cultural or religious background just don't live and work that way. We've faced this sort of thing down before, and we will do so again, if necessary. And I do not doubt that we will.

I am expecting a long walk to work tomorrow if the Tube is not back online. The exercise will do me good.

Thoughts on the day

I am quietly proud of my adopted city today. Proud of the emergency services in particular, and of the people in general.

For all the individual stories of horror from the attack sites themselves (and some of the stories have been quite horrific - the bottom of a Tube train being blown out while travelling underground, a passenger being sucked into the tunnel into the path of an oncoming train from the other direction...), there has remained an air of calm, with no general panic, and only very few instances when the attacks took place.

Particularly, the Metropolitan Police and the emergency services have worked quickly, quietly and efficiently, to contain and limit the situation. The continued air of calm and control is in no small way down to these people. Our much-maligned health service is coping splendidly, and people have been volunteering to donate blood and other aid.

Those of us who have lived in London (or indeed any of a number of major UK cities: Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast, to name but three)for any length of time will be aware of the attempts of terrorists to destroy the fabric of life and the morale of the people. It doesn't work; it will never work. People in the UK, no matter their ethnic, cultural or religious background just don't live and work that way. We've faced this sort of thing down before, and we will do so again, if necessary. And I do not doubt that we will.

I am expecting a long walk to work tomorrow if the Tube is not back online. The exercise will do me good.