Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

South Kensington museum district announces reopening plans

The Natural History Museum will reopen on August 5 (John Walton/PA)
The Natural History Museum will reopen on August 5 (John Walton/PA)

The Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and Science Museum are to reopen in August.

South Kensington’s museum district – usually a tourist and school holiday hotspot in London – has been closed in lockdown.

The three institutions held a joint, virtual event to announce plans to open their doors again.

The Natural History Museum will reopen on August 5, the V&A on August 6, and the Science Museum on August 19.

Timed, free tickets will be needed to enter the museums.

The three museums said they are staggering opening dates and times to reduce footfall in Exhibition Road and ease visitor flow at nearby Underground stations.

The V&A will initially open from Thursday to Sunday each week.

Director Tristram Hunt said: “The V&A’s galleries flourish in dialogue with visitors, and, after so many months, I am delighted we will be reopening our doors to the world.

“Our seven miles of galleries in South Kensington will open in phases, and we have a range of exciting exhibition and gallery openings to come in the next few months.

“The V&A has ample space for social distancing, and all safety measures are in place for our visitors to enjoy 5,000 years of ingenuity in art, design and performance.

“Reopening is only the first phase to our recovery, which is set to last well into next year, and we remain hugely grateful to all our visitors, members and supporters – now more than ever.”