The tear-jerking story of why the voice heard at Embankment Underground station is unlike the rest of the network has been shared on social media and shows the effect an act of kindness can have for covering up the truth.

When the actor Oswald Lawrence passed away, TFL decided it was time to update their announcement system and replace Lawrence’s voice acting.

They soon discovered that no matter how many times they replaced the recording, the original continued to play instead.

The London Star Paranormal investigation team discovered that Embankment is haunted by the spirit of the Lawrence and no matter how many times they switch it back to the ordinary voice his voice will always come through.

Mystic Mel says:

TFL have attempted cover up the truth about paranormal entities, circulating a story about them keeping the original recording as a tribute to Lawrence.

— Read more on The Gap Between Life and Death

Hounslow Council has sparked controversy by announcing it will continue to fly the EU flag, despite Brexit.

Hounslow Council says it will keep the flag up at council office Hounslow House as ‘a symbol that we remain an internationalist borough’ and ‘a place EU citizens can call home’.

Council leader Steve Curran claimed the gesture was to show EU citizens in the borough they are still ‘friends, neighbours and loved ones’ who are ‘valued members of our communities’.

However, some have accused the council of ‘not listening to voters’, given Britain’s decision to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum. The move was announced on January 31 at a meeting attended by staff from Poland, Croatia, Germany, Norway, Romania and other EU countries.

Britain officially left the EU on January 31 and is currently in a 12-month transition period in which it is no longer a member state but is still be subject to EU rules and regulations.

Mystic Mel says:

I sense people are angry because we voted to leave and yet we are still stuck here on this island with the miserable weather. Leave means leave and people are starting to doubt that our exodus will never happen and that Theresa May lies to them.

— Read more on Get Them Out

Airliners are slower than they used to be—but sometimes, they can still bend the sound barrier.

A British Airways plane has broken the record for fastest subsonic flight—by going faster than the speed of sound. The flight from New York to London arrived almost two hours early after a flight lasting 4 hours and 56 minutes. British Airways also just narrowly beat two Virgin Airways flights that took one minute and three minutes longer, respectively.

What happened? Well, the jet stream was much more powerful than usual, blowing more than 200 miles per hour (mph) and carrying the planes at that high ambient speed. On Friday, the Washington Post predicted the wildly fast flights and shared a thorough analysis. The overall weather system causing the super-fast jet stream linking New York and London came from a “bomb cyclone” near Greenland.

The storm system generates hurricane-force winds at its source, then those winds significantly mellow out to “just” 200 mph further away. The Washington Post explains that storms closer to the north and south poles are larger and their force dissipates more quickly than storms at lower latitudes.

By the end of the weekend, the storm coming from Greenland, called Storm Ciara in the affected U.K., was paired with a system off the east coast of the southern U.S. to make a wind-powered airplane hyperloop from New York to London. The Washington Post compares the system to moving sidewalks at an airport: you maintain your own “cruising speed” while the walkway carries you at a different base speed. The top speed of the Boeing 747 itself is about 570 mph, and this flight maxed out at 825 mph.

The difference between “ground speed” (zero bonus) and “air speed” (200+ mph bonus) is also why this speed, while technically faster than the speed of sound, didn’t ever go supersonic. In theory, a series of nested tunnels with 200-mph winds could lead to an airplane in the center going thousands of miles an hour, but never breaking the sound barrier.

The wind tunnel effect from Storm Ciara did speed up flights, but of course, it’s not worth the destruction the storm caused when it made landfall. That means “wait for a stormy wind tunnel” isn’t a viable strategy for airlines to speed up flights or reduce fuel—it’s a coincidence that will occasionally cause new record speeds. And in general, airlines are reducing flight speeds to conserve fuel.

Mystic Mel Says:

After their earlier Sonic PR disasters, Paramount Pictures hired me to summon the Wind God Futen to carry out this movie tie in publicity stunt.

— Read more on Gone With The Wind

A huge Banksy exhibition opens in west London this April — featuring 80 prints, canvasses, screen prints and sculptures by the incognito street artist.

The Art of Banksy claims to have the world’s largest collection of privately-owned Banksys, and has already visited cities including Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Miami.

Girl with Balloon is the only confirmed artwork so far; though the first incarnation of the artwork appeared on London’s Waterloo Bridge in 2002, there have been multiple Banksy variations on the theme. Versions of other works which have appeared at previous Art of Banksy shows include CCTV Angel, Grin Reaper and Pulp Fiction.

The Art of Banksy comes to an as-yet undisclosed South Kensington location on 23 April. Ticket information has not yet been published, although you can register your interest.

Unlike the Gross Domestic Product store in Croydon last year, this show is not officially sanctioned by Banksy.

— Read more on Robin Hood

Forget nine lives, one cat appears to have used up a couple of hundred after becoming trapped in the London Underground.

The animal, called Blitz, spent seven hours cowering on the tracks in a tunnel as more than 250 trains passed over his head.

Despite suffering a broken back after being struck by one, he was eventually rescued by Transport for London staff.

It is believed Blitz found itself in the perilous situation after squeezing past the ticket barriers at Tufnell Park tube station and making his way down the escalator without being spotted.

Writing on Twitter after being reunited with his pet, Mr Piggott said: “How the f*** did my cat make his way down onto the track at Tufnell Park tube, get hit by a train, have 300 other trains go over the top of him, cause the line to be suspended so they could rescue him after seven hours and live?”

Blitz, who also lost his tail in the incident, is said to now be recovering well.

Mystic Mel Says: Blitz was the victim of a psychic attack by The Great London Rat king who lures cats to their doom by humming whiskers jingles just above the rattle and din of the tube.

The Rat King commented psychically to say that it regularly puts up with life under the trains and called Blitz a “pussy”.

Blitz replied “I’m not bother about what happened to my spine, it was just holding me back anyway”

MET Police have confirmed that Blitz is being investigated for failure to produce a valid ticket on the underground.

— Read more on Jerry

Coronavirus chaos has reached London and there is panic as Chinatown empties – ‘People are scared’ as first signs of infection are detected in London.

A local man said “anybody who has been on the tube recently is in serious danger in particular“.

Mr Ma also spoke of “immediate cancellations” following the first reports of the coronavirus in the UK, with many saying the illness was the reason.

The owner estimated that his flagship restaurant – one of four branches across the country – has lost £15,000 over the last weekend.

Another restaurant manager, remaining anonymous, told the BBC: “People are scared, they are staying away.”

He also spoke of how fellow British-Chinese people had experienced prejudice in the wake of the virus – people moving seats on the Tube and children being told to stay away from “foreigners”.

Mystic Mel Says: There is no doubt about it, the cards do not lie and in Cartomancy terms The Tower, Death and The Fool make it clear that Coronavirus has now reached London. Evacuate the city as soon as possible, it is only a matter of time before the virus replicates exponentially.

Source: Express Evacuation Protocol

London is a thriving 24-hour city where many flock to each year.

Tourists pour in to experience the incredible landmarks and days out, as well as career-driven job seekers hoping to make their mark in the capital.

With the bustling areas comes one of London’s most iconic features – the London Underground. The vast Tube network connects the different parts of the city – but there are some areas who are left on the wayside.

Welcome to the high street at the end of the District line that claims it is as ‘breaking point’.

Traders are struggling so much, that one is even considering paying for the parking of his customers, after costs were put up in summer.

Until last June (2019), it was free to park in Upminster High Street, in Havering, for up to half-an-hour. However, charges were put in place, charging customers £1.50 for an hour, with a maximum stay permitted for three hours. 

Recently, local councillors had a vote on whether or not to keep the parking charge, and they voted in favour of it with a 26 to 24 majority.

Business owners have noticed a change in the number of people who visit and spend money with them, and say it is “killing the high street”.

Some business owners on the high street reported they had seen the number of people visiting the town fall significantly. Now that their footfall is lower, it’s affected their sales revenue too.

Recently Swan Books, a shop that has been on the high street for 83 years, announced it was closing and blamed the parking charges for their fate.

Julie Benge, 66, works in Hair and Body on the high street.

She said: “It’s killing us and the high street.

“It’s a ghost town around here now, there is hardly anyone or footfall.

“I have noticed it since the parking charge came into force, it used to be very busy.

Source: Killing me softly

The brick piers of an old Victorian coach house are incorporated in the facade of this skinny house in New Cross, London, designed by architecture studio Selencky Parsons.

Nestled into a 3.5 metre gap in a Victorian terrace, the project is called The Coach House after the place for parking carriages that once sat on the site.

The Coach House is a slender three-storey building that steps down towards the rear, opening up into an L-shaped living area that overlooks a garden.

Three horizontal bands coated in micro-cement protrude out from the front facade.

Source: Skinny memes

A British academic sounded the alarm at a panel event about the Arctic’s receding ice at the annual Davos summit in Switzerland.

Major global cities including London and New York could flood if global temperatures rise by 2°C, an environmental expert has warned world leaders gathered at Davos.

Gail Whiteman, a professor at Lancaster University, said ice was melting at a record rate in the polar region, with half of the Arctic’s ice already disappearing over the past half-century.

She sounded the alarm at a panel event on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s annual summit, where climate change has dominated debate like never before.

She said the ‘albedo effect’ meant more and more heat was being absorbed by the expanding seas, instead of ice reflecting sunlight back into the atmosphere.
Source: Burning love