We’ve come to the end of 2024 at last – but plans to celebrate New Year’s Eve around Britain have been thrown into chaos by the weather.
The Met Office has issued a patchwork of weather warnings touching every country in the UK today, for wind, rain and snow.
They include a rare amber warning for rain in the Highlands of Scotland, covering places including Inverness, Fort William and Aviemore.
While the storm is not currently named, it has already caused significant disruption to one of the biggest celebration nights of the year.
Hogmanay in the centre of Edinburgh, which bills itself as ‘one of the greatest outdoor celebrations of New Year’s Eve in the world’, was cancelled yesterday to the disappointment of many.
Scottish rock band Texas was due to perform in Princes Street Gardens ahead of a spectacular fireworks display at Edinburgh Castle, but now the only events that are going ahead will be indoors.
That means a candlelit concert at St Giles Cathedral and an Idlewild gig at the Assembly Rooms will still take place.
Organisers of New Year’s Eve in London are keeping a close eye on the weather, but the event is currently going ahead as planned.
The New Year’s Eve fireworks display in Blackpool has been scrapped, but the other festivities are going ahead in the Lancashire seaside town.
To mark the beginning of 2025, a projection show on Blackpool Tower will go ahead at midnight.
A pair of fireworks displays at Newcastle’s quayside, planned for 6pm and midnight, have been cancelled.
The city council said: ‘Safety always comes first, and the forecast has made it clear that continuing would pose risks to those attending, as well as our event teams working on-site.’
Ripon’s New Year’s Eve celebrations have also been cancelled due to the high winds forecast, with the North Yorkshire cathedral city covered by one of the yellow warnings.
Meanwhile, a New Year’s Day homemade boat race in Poole, Dorset will not go ahead ‘due to the severity of the swell of the water forecast’, which would mean rescue vessels were not able to launch.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist Steve Willington said: ‘Heavy rain is expected across the whole of Scotland on Tuesday, and a separate band of rain will also push across Northern Ireland, England and Wales by the evening.
‘Strong winds will also be a feature across Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and northeast England, which may lead to some travel disruption on New Year’s Eve.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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