Weather in central London
Loading live conditions…
Area
184 stories from and about Barnet, mostly council & politics, local news, transport & tfl. The most recent ran on 28 October 2026. Page 3 of 10.
Barnet Labour has called on Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to drop Joshua Bonehill-Paine as an adviser after his selection as a council candidate in Somerset. Barnet Tories refused to condemn the decision, citing rehabilitation. Bonehill-Paine was jailed for antisemitic offences, including plans to burn the Talmud in Golders Green.
Barnet Council has approved revised plans for a Waitrose supermarket on Cricklewood Broadway, reducing retail space to make room for staff facilities. The store, part of the Eden NW2 development, is scheduled to open in autumn 2024 following a public consultation on signage.
Andy Taylor, a teacher at Northwood College, ran six marathons between January and May 2026, raising £12,374 for the Paul Strickland Scanner Centre. The funds will support early cancer diagnosis and treatment in memory of his mother-in-law, Margaret Gross.
Arriva North London drivers will strike on 14 days between 14 August and 20 October over dangerously high cab temperatures. Unite says Arriva has failed to act despite reports of heat exhaustion, while Arriva cites air conditioning upgrades and new fleet investments.
A 76-year-old Barnet resident admitted killing five or six koi carp and causing £565 of damage to a neighbour’s fishpond after a dispute over noise from a water pump. CCTV showed him entering the garden and damaging the equipment.
David Stevenson, abandoned as a baby in a Golders Green flat in 1960, has traced his Dutch birth family after 65 years. DNA matches and ITV’s *Long Lost Family* revealed his mother’s identity and Indonesian heritage, while police records helped fill gaps in his story.
Barnet Council’s reintroduced food waste service collects over 100 tonnes weekly, with two million collections since March 2026. The Labour administration restored the scheme after Conservatives scrapped it in 2018, citing £300,000 annual savings. Fox spillages remain rare, with crews clearing incidents during rounds.
At least 23 people were injured when a crowd surged at the entrance to Ghana Party in the Park in Hendon after a small fire forced temporary gate closure. Police closed the event early, citing overcrowding at Copthall Playing Fields.

Forty firefighters from London Fire Brigade attended a fire at a shop with flats above on Barnet High Street on 3 August 2026. The incident required no evacuations, and the cause remains under investigation by the brigade.
A woman in her 20s was taken to hospital after a crash on Mill Hill Circus roundabout in Edgware at 2.40pm on 2 August. Police closed three lanes, causing significant disruption, but no fatalities or arrests were reported. Enquiries continue.

Alexandra Palace Way in Haringey remains partially blocked following an emergency service incident on 2 August. Police and council officials have not released further information, leaving residents uncertain about diversions and reopening times.
Three people were taken to hospital after a fire near the entrance of Ghana Party in the Park in Barnet caused gates to close, leading to a crowd surge when they reopened. The festival was stopped early, with 23 people receiving assistance from emergency services.
A small fire at the Ghana Party in the Park festival in Barnet led to temporary gate closures, followed by a crowd surge when they reopened. Emergency services treated 23 people, with three hospitalised. The event was cancelled early on safety advice.
A new weekly mindfulness meditation drop-in starts this Thursday at St Mark’s Hall in Barnet, led by local teacher Ruth McDonald. Sessions run from 6.15 pm to 7.15 pm, cost £5 or £10 by donation, and are open to all levels, including complete beginners.
Colin Purkey, a Barnet resident and former further education teacher, has published a memoir detailing his imprisonment under South Africa’s apartheid regime. The book, 'Time Served', covers his arrest, hospitalisation after a car accident, and activism in the 1980s and 1990s.

Barnet Council will increase its work experience placements and convene local businesses to create more opportunities, following a protest by students from Hendon School and St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School. The council currently offers ten places and does not coordinate business offers.
A 1930s plan to extend the Northern line beyond Edgware to Bushey Heath was halted by the Second World War and post-war green belt restrictions. Only half-built arches at Brockley Hill remain as evidence of the scheme, formally abandoned in 1954 by London Transport.
More than 8,000 attendees were at the annual Ghana Party in the Park festival when overcrowding at the entrance led to injuries. Emergency services, including two air ambulances, responded. Organisers and Barnet Council confirmed the early closure, citing health and safety concerns.

Watling Park in Barnet has been awarded Green Flag status after a £1.5 million refurbishment. The project included rerouting Burnt Oak Brook to mitigate flood risks, new playgrounds, and workout equipment, funded in part by Defra.
A planning application has been submitted to Barnet Council to change the use of a property in Braemar Gardens. The home, located at 1 Braemar Gardens, could become a residential care facility for up to three children, shifting from its current Class C3 residential use to Class C2.
Borough-wide and national stories that name Barnet or bear directly on it.
Barnet Council indicated that, amid a £200 million shortfall, weekly waste collection could shift to every two weeks. The proposal emerged from a question‑and‑answer session and may be finalised within the next twelve months, affecting households across the borough.
Zoopla’s latest index reveals that more than a third of UK homes sit in postcodes where values fell last year, a share that has risen from 12% a year ago. In London, 85% of properties are in such areas, putting pressure on sellers in Barnet and the wider capital.
London boroughs, including Barnet, are paying £5.5 million a day for temporary accommodation for homeless families. The G15 landlords want 25% of stamp‑duty revenue, about £1.3 billion a year, for permanent social housing. The Chancellor is expected to raise the Help to Buy income cap to £140,000 in the capital.
A high PCR positivity rate reported in Islington is not a reliable indicator of COVID-19 prevalence due to low testing volumes, the council has stated. While cases have risen, they are similar to last year's autumn figures.
Storm Austen will bring strong winds and heavy rain to east London on 22‑23 October 2026. James Roe, founder of UK Roofing Specialist, advises residents to check roofs from ground level, clear gutters, secure outdoor items and document any damage for insurers.
A High Court judge has thrown out claims totalling about £340 million brought by London black‑cab drivers and two former private‑hire firms, stating the actions were time‑barred. Uber welcomed the decision, while claimants consider their next steps.
The Met Office said London will feel no warmer than 12 °C on Saturday and 11 °C on Sunday, with a high of 21 °C recorded on Thursday. Unsettled, wet and windy conditions are expected through October, driven by a powerful El Niño.
Southwark recorded the highest number of burglaries in London in September 2026, with 224 incidents. This is almost six times the 39 recorded in Kingston upon Thames. Across the capital, 3,829 burglaries were logged, a 3.9% decrease over the previous 12 months. Five boroughs shared the highest burglary rate per capita.
Palantir withdrew its High Court action after the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime refused a £50 million contract. The Metropolitan Police now faces a 1,150‑post reduction, with half of those cuts expected to be carried out by AI tools, a change that could affect policing services across Barnet and the wider capital.
On 30 September 2026 London experienced a tropical night with temperatures staying above 20 °C, including a Met Office reading of 21.8 °C at 2 am. BBC Weather then forecast thunderstorms for 9 am to 10 am, prompting travel warnings for commuters.
London will reach 27°C on Tuesday, bringing an unusually warm night of 19°C for Barnet. Rain is expected Wednesday morning with possible heavy showers later. Temperatures will stay above average through the week, the Met Office says.
London Stadium LLP, owned by the GLA, has asked Newham Council to lift its limit on concerts from ten to twenty‑four a year. Assembly member Bassam Mahfouz has called on Mayor Sadiq Khan to sell the venue to West Ham United, citing a £19 million annual deficit and a £2.5 million rent arrangement that he says harms the public purse.
Developers in London are increasingly avoiding leasehold properties, opting for Build to Rent, co-living, and student accommodation instead. This shift, driven by affordability issues and market stagnation, is changing the landscape of new housing developments across the capital.
Transport for London has launched an eight‑week public consultation on the West London Orbital, a proposed Overground service linking Hendon and Hounslow via the Dudding Hill line. The consultation ends on 18 November, with costs estimated between £810m and £1.2bn and benefits including 11,500 jobs and 25,000 homes.
Residents of Fitzrovia and the Warren Street area have measured tube noise of 50 to 51 decibels inside their homes. TfL announced autumn interventions, including delayed rail‑grinding work, after Assembly Member Anne Clarke highlighted the issue.
The Met Office forecasts a peak temperature of 25 °C in London on Tuesday, outpacing Athens’ 23 °C. Six days of near‑continuous sunshine are expected, followed by a shift to rainier, windier weather in October.
The Mayor of London launched a Disability Action Plan on 14 September 2026, targeting 1.2 million Deaf and Disabled residents. While it promises improvements in transport, housing and safety, the Metropolitan Police recorded 2,245 disability‑hate incidents since 2022 and critics argue the plan falls short of needed ambition.
The Standard reports that five of eight Home Counties police areas posted weapons possession rates above London’s average in the 2026 residential crime risk study. Sussex leads at 1.41 per 1,000, while Bedfordshire saw the sharpest year‑on‑year rise and Thames Valley Police recorded a notable decline.
BBC forecasters say London will not see a heatwave in September, with Met Office temperatures forecast between 24 °C and 19 °C. Thames Water’s hosepipe ban, issued on 23 July, remains active for Barnet, and the Environment Agency warns the drought will persist until nationwide rainfall resumes.
Local authorities have removed 3,393 dockless e‑bikes across London in 2026, a 23% increase on the previous year. Lime operators account for over 2,000 of those bikes. The RNIB says the growing clutter endangers blind and partially sighted people, prompting calls for city‑wide regulation.
Loading live conditions…