Notting Hill Gate Webcam – West London Street Life

The Notting Hill Gate Webcam covers the A402 in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea from two angles. The main camera, run by Transport for London and powered by TfL Open Data, looks west along the road toward Notting Hill Gate from the Palace Gardens Terrace junction, across a divided carriageway with a line of trees down one side and shopfronts along the other. Traffic is the constant here: red double deckers, black cabs, delivery vans and a steady file of cyclists. The second camera, from the Notting Hill Gate Cam channel, sits higher and takes in both carriageways with the railed central strip between them, a cycle lane at the near kerb, and the entrance to the pedestrian subway carrying the Underground roundel. A domed roofline breaks the skyline further down the street.

About Notting Hill Gate

Notting Hill Gate is both a street and the district around it, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The road carries the A402 designation and runs from Bayswater Road, at the junction with Ossington Street and Kensington Palace Gardens, west to Holland Park Avenue and on toward Ladbroke Grove. That makes it one of the main west London routes into the centre, which is why the traffic in frame rarely thins out for long.

The street the camera looks at is largely a product of the 1950s. Much of it was rebuilt in that decade, with two large tower blocks put up on the north and south sides, and the flat mid-century frontages on the left of the picture belong to that rebuild. The Underground station was reconstructed at the same time, and the work turned what had been separate stations into a single underground interchange. The pedestrian subway at the bottom of the frame is part of that scheme.

The station is older than the street above it. The sub-surface Circle and District line platforms opened on 1 October 1868, built by the Metropolitan Railway as part of its extension from Paddington to Gloucester Road, and those platforms are now listed by Historic England. The Central line platforms came later, opening on 30 July 1900 under the Central London Railway, and on that line Notting Hill Gate sits between Holland Park to the west and Queensway to the east. Two long-standing cinemas stand on the street. The Coronet opened as a theatre on 28 November 1898 to a design by W.G.R. Sprague and was converted for film in 1923; the Gate Cinema opened in 1911 and still has its Edwardian plasterwork, including a heavily coffered ceiling.

Weather and Climate in Notting Hill Gate

West London has a mild, damp maritime climate, and the camera shows it in the road surface as much as in the sky. January is the coldest month, averaging about 4.8 C (41 F), with daytime highs near 9 C (48 F). July is the warmest, with highs around 23 C (73 F) and summer afternoons more usually in the 20 to 22 C (68 to 72 F) range. Snow reaches the street rarely and seldom lasts, so a winter view is more often wet tarmac under low grey cloud than anything white.

Rain is spread across the year rather than concentrated in one season. Annual precipitation is around 703 mm (27.7 inches), with December the wettest month at 82 mm (3.2 inches) and March the driest at 48 mm (1.9 inches). Light matters more than temperature for what the picture looks like. July averages 7.3 hours of sunshine a day, which gives long evenings and hard shadows down the length of the street, while December manages 1.8 hours, so the frame spends much of a midwinter afternoon lit by shopfronts, headlights and traffic signals rather than by daylight.

Things to Do Near Notting Hill Gate

Portobello Road market lies to the north of the street, and the pavements around the station carry a good share of the people walking up to it. Both of the street’s cinemas still show films: the Gate Cinema for its Edwardian interior as much as its programme, and the Coronet, which Kensington Temple bought in 2004 with the stated intention of keeping independent cinema going there.

The Underground makes the rest of west London straightforward from here, with Holland Park one stop west and Queensway one stop east on the Central line. The eastern end of Notting Hill Gate meets Bayswater Road at Kensington Palace Gardens, which puts Kensington Gardens within a short walk of the road the camera watches.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

Other cameras pointed at British streets, stations and waterfronts:

• Abbey Road Webcam
• Paddington Webcam
• Dover Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Notting Hill Gate located?

In the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west London. The street carries the A402 and runs between Bayswater Road at its eastern end and Holland Park Avenue at its western end.

What can you see on the Notting Hill Gate Webcam?

Two views of the same street. The main camera looks west along the A402 toward Notting Hill Gate from the Palace Gardens Terrace junction, across the divided carriageway with its line of trees. The second is set higher above the pavement and takes in both carriageways, the cycle lane at the near kerb, the shopfronts, and the entrance to the pedestrian subway under the road. Buses, taxis, vans and cyclists pass through all day.

Which Underground lines serve Notting Hill Gate?

Three: the Central, Circle and District lines. The Circle and District platforms are the sub-surface pair opened in 1868, and the deeper Central line platforms opened in 1900. On the Central line the station sits between Holland Park and Queensway.

What is the weather like in Notting Hill Gate?

Mild and wet. January averages about 4.8 C (41 F) and July brings highs near 23 C (73 F). Rain totals around 703 mm (27.7 inches) a year, heaviest in December and lightest in March. Snow is unusual and rarely settles on the road.

How do you get to Portobello Road Market from Notting Hill Gate?

The market runs along Portobello Road to the north of the street, so it is a walk up from the station rather than another Tube journey. Much of the pedestrian traffic the camera picks up on a weekend morning is heading that way.

What time of day is busiest on the Notting Hill Gate Webcam?

The two commuter peaks are heaviest for vehicles, since the A402 is a through route into central London. Weekend late mornings tend to be busiest on the pavements, when the walk up to Portobello Road is at its peak. Overnight the road empties and the frame is lit by street lighting and shopfronts.

What is the Coronet at Notting Hill Gate?

A cinema on the street that started life as a theatre. It opened on 28 November 1898 to a design by the theatre architect W.G.R. Sprague and was converted for film in 1923. Kensington Temple acquired the site in 2004, intending to keep independent cinema running there.

Source: Transport for London