FIREWORK displays for New Year’s Eve could be in jeopardy – including in London where 45mph winds are forecast.
Fireworks expert Stephen Miller – whose firm consults on spectacular displays nation-wide – revealed the issues organisers will be facing in the coming hours.
A firework display health and safety consultant for Bromley Council for over 25 years, Mr Miller said there’s a chance the more hazardous effects may have to be cut if the weather keeps up.
The Met Office is forecasting snow, torrential rain and severe winds in parts of the UK as the New Year is ushered in.
London could see 45mph wind gusts on Tuesday night – while other areas are facing winds of up to 70mph, the Met Office says.
Former MOD research scientist and bomb disposal engineer Mr Miller told The Sun the most important aspect that determines whether a display can go ahead in full is wind speed.
And it could be wind speed – coupled with rain – that forces the most spectacular fireworks in London’s display off.
He said if the wind in London gets “particularly strong” then organisers would have to “cut down on the major effects”.
“They’re the ones that are going to be the major hazards,” he continued.
“They’re the most spectacular but they’re the most dangerous because there’s a bigger bang and projection of fragmentation. If there is a risk you cut out the bigger fireworks.”
In terms of whether heavy rain is likely to have an impact, he said: “It would have to be absolutely torrential.”
In 2004 he was consulting on a display in Crystal Palace when five minutes beforehand the wind’s speed and direction rapidly changed.
He advised the organisers to call it off due to the risk of debris being blown into the ticket-paying crowd.
However, he said after some consultation, it was agreed to reposition the barriers and project the display over the car park.
After a 30-minute delay it was able to go ahead as planned.
When asked if London’s display could be in jeopardy, he told The Sun “The wind speed and direction are the most important things.
“You need to make sure you’ve got a free area downwind so any debris that comes off the fireworks isn’t populated by people.
“The wind direction is the most important of the two – as long as it’s consistent, they will have put barriers in place to make sure no one is in the downwind hazard area.”
Referring to his experience of being a health and safety consultant, he said: “I always check the weather the day before and on the day of the display.
“I get there first thing in the morning and make sure the wind is doing what it’s supposed to do according to the forecast and then position the barriers so the audience are safe.
“Ideally, the wind needs to be away from the audience towards the fireworks, carrying any debris away.
“I keep checking all through the day to see what the wind is actually doing and if it’s closely matching the forecast – if it starts to stray then you can put contingency actions into place.”
Across Britain, displays most at risk are those that are in smaller areas or close to obstacles like buildings that freak weather could cause an issue with.
“But you’d also be looking at how important the display is,” he continued.
“Obviously, the London fireworks display is a huge tourist event. Calling it off has a political ramifications, so there’s always that angle as well.”
Mr Miller said the normal wind direction in the UK is south west, with the London display set off from Southbank, so in theory the fireworks will blow north over the audience.
“They are designed to burn out before they get back to the ground,” he explained, referring to the firework debris. “Bits that burn will burn at a predictable rate…
“The worst scenario would usually be bits of cardboard blowing over people, they come down like thick confetti. It’s not too bad if that hits you.”
In terms of “contingency plans”, he said: “It maybe the case of cutting out the biggest fireworks from the display.
“Because it’s all controlled by a computer system they can quickly flick a few buttons to remove some of the bigger effects, but they always design displays so there are smaller effects alongside the bigger ones so the general public wouldn’t notice if the bigger ones are missing.”
Asked if many displays across Britain will need to be halted this year, Mr Miller said: “I think they are likely to go ahead.
“All display companies that I know always design their displays so they can cut out the biggest bits, even if they have set up things throughout the day.
“They can quickly say, right, we’ve got a problem, turn that off, turn that off, everything else is fine.
“They can still produce a display but not necessarily exactly the super duper one that they initially planned.
“They’re the only people who will notice, chances are the customer won’t notice.
“I’ve done shows before where everything got so wet because it rained so hard that half the show didn’t go off.
“But the customer came over and shook my hand and said best display I’ve ever seen.”
