Latest updated at 12:05pm BST (7:05amET).
Seven people have been killed in a terrorist incident in central London.
The three suspected attackers were shot dead by police, Scotland Yard has said.
Shortly after 10:00pm BST on Saturday, police responded to reports that a van hit a number of pedestrians on London Bridge in central London.
There are reports of a number of casualties after an incident that possibly involved a vehicle and a knife in the London Bridge area, British Transport Police has said.
Shortly after the London Bridge incident police also reported a 2nd incident at Borough Market.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley reported 6 people have been killed – then in a statement on Sunday morning Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dickia reported that a further person died overnight. It is also reported that 48 casualties from the Londondon Bridge and Borough Market incidents have been taken to 6 different hospitals.
One of the people stabbed was an on-duty British Transport police officer. He received serious injuries but the injuries are not life threatening.
The Metropolitan police said armed officers were also at the nearby Borough Market. Metropolitan police have confirmed reports of stabbings at Borough Market, where they say armed police have fired shots.
The Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley has said that within 8 minutes of being informed of the incident, armed response officers bravely confronted the 3 suspects and shot and killed them. This meant the total fatalities from this terror incident was now 10.
One cab driver said three men ran towards the market stabbing people – including a young girl – as they ran.
A picture (shown above) is reported to show two of the Borough Market attackers – one in the foreground who has been shot and another in the background who is reportedly dead.
The BBC earlier tonight reported an unnamed eyewitness, a security guard who works across multiple bars and pubs in Borough Market, claiming to have seen a man with a canister strapped to his abdomen.
Stressing that the reports were unverified, the news channel claims the man saw the attackers after receiving a call from a colleague in another bar who said people had been stabbed.
However, the Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley reported that what looked like explosive vests being worn by the suspects turned out to be hoaxes.
With the incident still developing at least one person was taken into custody as the police were clearing nearby streets.
Police also reported a 3rd incident in Vauxhall. However, this stabbing incident has since been ruled out as a terror incident and was not linked to the London Bridge and Borough Market terror incidents.
Downing Street said: “The prime minister is in contact with officials and is being regularly updated on the incident at London Bridge.”
Theresa May has said “The terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism.”
Theresa May will chair a Cobra meeting about tonight’s incidents first thing on Sunday morning.
It is understood that the Prime Minister was in her Maidenhead constituency when she was alerted to the news. So-called Cobra meetings are named after Cabinet Office Briefing Room A, where crisis response meetings are held. They usually include the Prime Minister and senior cabinet ministers as well as intelligence and security officials.
Mrs May held two Cobra meetings in one day less than two weeks ago on the day of the Manchester bombing.
US President Donald Trump offered assistance to Britain via Twitter. “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the UK, we will be there – we are with you. Gold bless!”.
Witnesses from the London Bridge incident have said that armed officers are understood to be at the scene after a white transit van mounted the pavement before driving into people.
There are reports of three men exiting the van carrying knives and attacking people.
As the incident developed, the Metropolitan police said they were dealing with an incident on the bridge and “multiple resources” are in attendance.
A BBC reporter at the London Bridge scene said police were searching for three suspects.
Speaking to a reporter from The Guardian, Lara Al-Ostta said she was having drinks with a friend at the Old Thameside Inn underneath London Bridge when she said people came running into the pub and telling everyone to run away because “people are stabbing each other”.
A cab driver on the bridge has reported he saw a stabbing man.
Twitter uses have also reported a stabbing and shots being fired in the area, though this remain unconfirmed.
There were also reports that somebody had run into a restaurant and stabbed two people.
Transport for London said the bridge has been closed in both directions due to a “major police incident”.
Bus routes were being diverted and Southwark Bridge has also been shut, it added.
Transport for London said there were further closures in Borough High Street, where armed police were later seen.
BBC reporter Holly Jones, who was on the bridge at the time of the incident, said the van was driven by a man and was “probably travelling at about 50 miles an hour”.
“He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind,” Ms Jones told the BBC News Channel.
About five people were being treated for injuries after the vehicle mounted the pavement and hit them, she said.
“I’d say there are about four severely injured people. They all have paramedics assisting them at the moment.”
She said the van, which was travelling from the direction of central London, headed towards the south side of the river.
Ms Jones later reported seeing a man being arrested by police. She said he was handcuffed and had his shirt off.
She said a French woman was among the injured and who told her she did not know where the two people who had been with her were.
London Ambulance Service tweeted: “Multiple resources attending an incident at #LondonBridge, please avoid the area”.
Life boats are coordinating with emergency services to evacuate members of the public on the Thames.
MPSonthewater tweeted Marine 2 and Marine 3 are part of the response to the #London Bridge incident. Working with @RNLI lifeboats to evacuate the public.
Staff at the offices of the Sun newspaper on London Bridge Street reported hearing two explosions close by at 1.23am and 1.25am. A third explosion was reported close to the Shard at 1.28am.
It is not clear if these were controlled explosions by police on the scene.
Lisa o’carroll tweeted Third sound of explosion at London Bridge – probably controlled explosion. Tourists here with nowhere to go.
Police have asked people who were at the scene on London Bridge or in Borough Market to upload any pictures or videos they have taken to this police site.
The Metropolitan police has now opened a casualty bureau for those concerned about family and friends who might have been caught up in the attacks.
There are two numbers to call:
- 0800 096 1233
- 020 7158 0197
The attacks at London Bridge and Borough market are the third suspected terrorist attack on the United Kingdom since March.
The incidents come after 10 weeks of intense activity for counter-terrorism investigators, which before Saturday had seen two plots escape detection and lead to mass casualties, and five alleged attack plots thwarted.
The first plot to kill was aimed at the Westminster area on 22 March, when an attacker killed four people after mounting the pavement and mowing down pedestrians, before running into the Houses of Parliaments where a police officer was stabbed to death.
After that attack, five further plots were disrupted with suspects detained, as well as four alleged conspiracies in London and one in Birmingham.
Then on 22 May, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured over 100 at Manchester Arena after attacking a pop concert attended by many children and youngsters. The Manchester attacker, Salman Abedi, was feared to have co-conspirators and concerns they may be on the loose led to the United Kingdom’s terrorism threat level being raised to its maximum, amid fears another attack may have been imminent.
The threat level was lowered to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely, just last Saturday, one week before the incidents at London Bridge and Borough Market.
I’m sure it has nothing to do with islam again?