There were also communal shelters for people to congregate in and, in London, the Underground system was used as an unofficial shelter. Though the authorities closed stations people took it upon themselves to open them up again and many thousands of people would shelter on the Underground platforms.

For the most part the people who sheltered in the Underground were safe from the bombs that rained down — though on one occasion a bomb did fall through the road into Bank Station and over 200 people were killed in the explosion.