Schedules abandoned after London bomb blasts

The major channels have all switched to breaking news coverage after a series of bomb blasts rocked the capital.

BBC One, ITV1 and Five are simulcasting with News 24, ITV News Channel and Sky News respectively as more details begin to emerge.

The BBC's top level core website has dropped offline as a surge of readers clamour for information on the incident.

BBC Two's Daily Politics aired as planned from 12pm, instead covering the event from a governmental perspective.

Channel 4 aired a series of news flashes throughout the morning but persisted with its regular schedule until News At Noon.

2pm: The BBC has confirmed that BBC One's simulcast with News 24 will continue through 6pm this evening. No changes have yet been announced to the primetime schedule. Children's programming will move to BBC Two from 3.25pm.

3pm: Five returned to its regular programming.

In the United States, network television covered the explosions on overnight news programmes with coverage continuing on breakfast news shows including Good Morning America, Today, and The Early Show. At 10am ET (3pm BST), CBS and NBC abandoned regular programming and are now airing continuous live coverage, while ABC handed back to local stations. BBC America is simulcasting BBC News 24. US news channels are covering the news extensively: CNN has abandoned its regular schedule and is providing ongoing coverage, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams is anchoring coverage on MSNBC, Fox News is airing ongoing coverage, and CNN Headline News is airing regular updates and running a breaking news ticker. At 10:25am (3:25pm BST), ABC switched back to breaking news coverage for the briefing by London authorities. At 11:30am (4:30pm), CNN confirmed that its regular daytime schedule has been scrapped in favour of rolling news. Shortly afterward, the network indicated that its entire schedule - including early prime, primetime and overnight reruns - has been replaced with breaking news coverage.

5pm: BBC confirms primetime schedule changes: 6pm bulletin to last one hour; regional news shunted to 7pm. EastEnders to air as normal at 7.30pm, with news updates at 8pm (30 minutes) and 9pm (10 minutes). Elephant Diaries and Ground Force: Mandela Special to air at 8.30pm and 9.10pm respectively. 10pm news bulletin to continue as normal, with Question Time shifting its agenda accordingly for a 10.40pm broadcast. News 24 will begin at 12.25am after This Week.

5.15pm: ITV1 will continue its news special through 7pm, before breaking for Emmerdale, local programming and The Bill. A two-hour news special will blanket primetime from 9pm. Channel 4 has pencilled in an additional news special following Big Brother at 10.50pm, while Five intends to stick with its intended primetime lineup.