Showing posts with label Royal wedding: heavy rain forecast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Royal wedding: heavy rain forecast. Show all posts

UK police vow tough action against wedding protests

British police promised they would crack down "robustly" on anyone trying to disrupt Friday's royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, appealing to the public to help them spot any troublemakers.


We intend to interact robustly, quickly and firmly if anybody engages in any criminal activity," London Police's Assistant Commissioner Lynne Owens told the news conference.


"We really need you to be our eyes and our ears. If you see anybody in the crowd that is acting suspiciously please bring it to the earliest attention of our officers.


5,000 police officers will be on duty in London on Friday to deal with potential threats ranging from international Islamist militants to anarchists and stalkers.


At a briefing on Tuesday, senior officers said they would not tolerate anyone who attempted to disrupt the event, which will be viewed by hundreds of thousands on the streets and by as many as 2 billion people on television worldwide.


We would be wrong not to consider spontaneous protest as part of our contingency planning," Jones said.


Police will seize any banners that the public on the day "would find offensive" Owens said, adding that the majority of well-wishers and tourists could be searched.


"It is likely that people will be searched in London on that day, but we're not applying a blanket stop/search policy," she said.


Even guests for the ceremony itself will not be exempt. The general congregation at the abbey will have to go through a security check at a location away from the main entrance of the church.

Royal wedding: heavy rain forecast for big day

Predictions that the sun would shine on the royal newlyweds, the most recent forecast suggests hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets on Friday will get drenched.

If it does rain, it also means the public will be denied the chance to see the bride and groom in an open carriage on their way back from Westminster Abbey, as a closed-in carriage is on standby to be used in wet weather.

Temperatures will probably be somewhere in the high teens but it is difficult to pin down so far ahead.
"The weather is always changing, there is that risk that we are seeing on the current outlook that we have at the moment, but nearer the time the models might change a little bit.

Sunday saw cooler weather with a top temperature of 25.3C (around 78F) in Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, and a maximum of 24C (75F) across London.
A weak cold front over Scotland and Northern Ireland will push south today bringing cloud and some drizzle to areas such as the Pennines and mountain areas of Wales.
Temperatures will rise to a high of 22C (72F) in London and the south of the country, and between 11C and 14C (52F to 57F) in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Lindsay Dove, forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: "Today will be noticeably cooler, across the south it will be maybe two or three degrees cooler than yesterday.