In west London, a noisy night for residents spells a profitable night for any taxi and Uber drivers who are prepared to work into the early hours. After midnight on Monday morning at London Heathrow, a succession of planes touched down. Normally all arriving aircraft are tucked in by 11pm.
The tardy half-dozen were British Airways Airbus jets arriving well behind schedule from Dublin, Glasgow, Naples, Pisa, Porto and Prague. Around 900 weary passengers then trudged through the echoing terminal buildings, discovering that the Underground and rail lines had closed for the night. As the Heathrow stragglers sorted out their onward travel arrangements and possibly grimaced at the cost, across at Gatwick thousands of easyJet passengers were still waiting for the chance to fly.
