London's New Year's Eve fireworks in jeopardy as expert issues wind warning
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London's New Year's Eve fireworks could be cancelled if 'dangerous' high winds hit the capital. Most of the UK will be covered by at least one of the multiple weather warnings issued by the Met Office this week, as the stormy year of 2024 comes to a close amid another barrage of snow, wind, rain, and freezing conditions. New Year's celebrations have already been cancelled in Blackpool in the last few hours due to forecasted unsafe conditions, and worries are now mounting among would-be spectators that London's huge televised fireworks display could be next in line.
Former Ministry of Defence research scientist turned fireworks display firm boss, Stephen Miller, told the Sun that "wind speed and direction" would determine what happens on Tuesday night. Explaining how the event may still go ahead but with changes, he said: "It may be 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." Other potential contingency plans may include changing the location of crowd barriers to avoid people being hit by pieces of downwind cardboard and small debris from the rockets.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the Mirror that officials would continue to monitor forecasts, but said there were no changes to the event planned. They commented: "We continue to monitor the weather forecast closely, but ticketholders and the many millions watching around the world are set for a spectacular night of fireworks from the banks of the Thames to welcome in the new year. All tickets are sold out, with resale tickets only available through Ticketmaster, the only authorised ticket seller for this event. Anyone who does not have a ticket is urged to watch the show on TV or welcome in 2025 in the capital’s fantastic range of hospitality venues.".
