Posted March 24, 2017 12:20:17

Photo: Tube stations showed their solidarity and encouraged Londoners to go about their business. (Twitter: @piccadilly_west)

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of them all."

This is the type of message you might see in an Instagram post or on a chalkboard outside a cafe, but it was in fact written on the service information board at Tower Hill Underground station in London.

In the wake of the terrorist attack in Westminster on Thursday which left five dead and scores injured, a host of London Tube stations have replaced service announcements with messages of defiance and hope.

There have even been photoshopped versions floating around online, one of which went viral and was read out in Britain's Parliament before it was revealed to be a computer-generated fake.

Hashtags such as '#Londonisopen', '#IAmLondon' and '#WeAreNotAfraid' were promoted on the whiteboards, as Londoners showed their determination to carry on with their lives in spite of the attack.

MP Simon Hoare read out one of the more viral examples of the Tube signs in the House of Commons, but it was later shown to be nothing more than an internet mock-up.

The message read:" All terrorists are politely reminded that this is London and whatever you do to us we will drink tea and jolly well carry on, thank you."

Though the sign was computer-generated, it obviously struck a chord, being widely shared on social media.

Even Prime Minister Theresa May was moved by the message. She responded to its airing in parliament by calling it, "a wonderful, wonderful tribute" that had "in a very simple way encapsulated everything everybody in this House has said today."

Londoners also used chalk to express their deep sorry and solidarity, inscribing messages and drawings on the pavement at Trafalgar Square.

Topics: terrorism, united-kingdom, england