A pilot who died when his helicopter clipped a crane in central London declared "all's fine" shortly before his accident despite challenging weather conditions, an inquest has heard. 

Pete Barnes, 50, died when his helicopter hit a crane at The Tower at St George Wharf, Vauxhall, and plunged into Wandsworth Road on the morning of January 16, 2013. 

 Pedestrian Matthew Wood, 39, from Sutton, south London, was also killed as he walked to work. Twelve other people on the ground were also injured. 

Mr Barnes, who was contending with poor visibility and freezing fog that morning, had been flying from Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey to Elstree in Hertfordshire but was diverted to Battersea heliport. 

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced that London City Airport will be given permission to use new technology that will create a much narrower flight corridor.

Image source, Getty Images

Councillor Clyde Loakes, deputy leader and cabinet member for environment on Waltham Forest Council, said he was "disappointed" by the manner in which the consultation on the plans was carried out, claiming: "There are still a lot of local people who remain unaware of the proposals or the impact they could have on their quality of life."

The Civil Aviation Authority said it would mean "aircraft flying over the Thames Estuary for significantly longer, reducing noise for many".  

The Trafalgar Square tree has its own Twitter account, external – and it hasn’t even been lit up yet.

The tree, which is an annual gift to London from the people of Norway, told followers it was “nice to sleep standing up again” last night.

The 70ft spruce arrived in Lincolnshire on Saturday as it made its way south.

“Just look at the size of me this year, I’m huge,” it boasted.

The tree will be lit at 6pm on Thursday., external

Labour mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan has hailed the cross-party EnvironmentalAudit Committee report on Heathrow expansion for "making clear that without massive protections against noise and air pollution, Londoners’ quality of life will suffer enormously".

Image source, Heathrow Airport

He added: "In contrast Gatwick stands ready to deliver the additional capacity London needs without the devastating environmental impact of Heathrow.

“Tory dithering is bad for the future of business, jobs and growth in London. The case has never been clearer for Gatwick expansion and we need to get on with it.”

BBC Weather

This afternoon will be mostly dry, with perhaps a few bright or sunny intervals developing, Rather mild, but also breezy.

Maximum temperature: 14C (57F).

Asad Ahmad
Presenter, BBC London

BBC London has discovered 12 illegal Orthodox Jewish schools in the capital - we'll have a special report. 

And a campaign to make Oxford Street - Europe's busiest shopping street - pedestrian only hopes to enlist cross-party support from London's mayoral candidates. 

Join me at 13:30 on BBC One.

Richard Conway
BBC Radio 5 live sports news correspondent

Chelsea have submitted a planning application for a new Stamford Bridge stadium with a capacity of 60,000.   

Image source, Chelsea FC

In September an initial scoping report was ruled "generally acceptable" by the Hammersmith and Fulham Council, but it said certain conditions must be met ahead of any planning application.

Esther Webber
BBC News, London

Our top stories this afternoon: 

• Heathrow conditions 'must be met'
• 'Fat shaming' cards handed out on Tube
• Chelsea submit new 60,000-seat stadium plans

Stephen Ennis

The scene is an office in London. A man is given a poisoned glass of wine by an exiled Russian oligarch.When he gets out into the street, he quickly becomes unwell and vomits in the gutter...

Image source, NTV

Pippa Stephens
BBC News Online, London

Apps like Tinder have transformed dating. How well-equipped is the human brain to deal with this cultural shift?  

Image source, Alamy

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Extending UK airstrikes to so-called Islamic State in Syria will make the group “more determined to come here and kill us” according to Ken Livingstone, co-chairman of Labour's Defence Policy Review.

As parliament prepares to vote on the air strikes, the former Mayor of London told the Today programme that "bombing doesn't actually win you a war” and that "boots on the ground" from a broad coalition of UN forces was required to defeat IS.

A 24-year-old man has been charged with murder after a body washed up on a river shore in east London.  

Image source, Google

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and Network Rail have agreed a new £4.1m "rail reparation fund" following poor performance on Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express services, in particular those travelling through London Bridge station. 

Network Rail admitted the situation was "unacceptable" and "embarrassing" in January, when the station was affected by delays and overcrowding.

Image source, Liz Fenwick

The fund will be spent on: 

• Increasing the number of staff at stations served by Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express
• Employing more track workers to provide rapid response during disruptions
• Introducing incident management software to help quickly resolve issues that occur on Network Rail’s South East route.

Pink News
Newspaper

The Green candidate for Mayor of London has pledged to create an London AIDS Memorial, external. 

Though there are several memorials to victims of the AIDS crisis around the UK and the world, London does not currently have a permanent physical memorial. 

Slim "down to the bone"... that's what this model was told by colleagues in the fashion industry. 

Rosalie Nelson will take a petition signed by thousands to parliament today - it calls for young models to be protected from being pressured into becoming too thin.    

A man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of 17-year-old Vasilaki Kakko who was stabbed to death in Yoke Close, Holloway last Monday.

Image source, Met Police

The Met Police said a man, believed to be 20-years-old, was arrested in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. He is currently in custody. 

London Mayor Boris Johnson has described a report by the Environmental Audit Committee as "yet another nail in the coffin of Heathrow expansion".

He said: "It is clear this project is undeliverable - on noise, on air quality, on costs - it fails every test. 

For more than 40 years the British public have endured a pilgrimage of pain over Heathrow. It's time to draw stumps. We need to think bigger and better. 

The government is due to respond to the Airport Commission's report backing a third runway before Christmas. 

Mayoral candidates from the Conservatives, Labour, Greens, Lib Dems, UKIP and Respect are opposed to the idea. 

The government should not support the building of a third runway at Heathrow until a number of environmental conditions can be met, MPs have said.

Image source, Reuters

The Airports Commission, external published a report backing a third runway in July, but the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee said firm plans to deal with climate-changing emissions, air quality and noise need to be put in place.  

It's the official start of winter today - and a very mild one, with some drizzle this morning. 

Vanessa Feltz
BBC Radio London presenter

This morning on BBC Radio London - a special full day Commons debate and vote will be held tomorrow on whether the UK should bomb Islamic State targets in Syria. What do you think? 

Get in touch with me now by emailing vanessa@bbc.co.uk or calling 020 7224 2000.