Rain will stay away as Queen is laid to rest: Crowds will say final farewell to Her Majesty under cloudy skies but will stay dry as temperatures hit 17C on bank holiday Monday
- Final preparations and rehearsals are taking place for the Queen’s funeral in Westminster Abbey tomorrow
- The Met Office said the weather will be cloudy throughout Monday but it is unlikely to rain and will stay dry
- Sunshine will break through later in the day as Her Majesty is laid to rest in St George’s Chapel, Windsor
- A congregation of 2,000 including world leaders, everyday heroes and European royals are to attend at 11am
- The Queen’s funeral: All the latest Royal Family news and coverage
It is unlikely to rain as crowds say farewell to Her Majesty tomorrow at the state funeral, although there will be cloudy skies, the Met Office has said.
Final preparations are underway for Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey tomorrow, which is due to begin at 11am as the world will watch on to mourn the beloved monarch.
The Met Office said the weather would be cloudy, with temperatures hitting 17C, but rain would be unlikely to fall.
Conditions will stay the same after the hour-long service when the Queen’s coffin makes the 1.5-mile journey from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch for the public procession at 12.15pm.
At 1pm Her Majesty will be transported by State Hearse to the Long Walk in Windsor.
It is unlikely to rain tomorrow as the Queen’s state funeral begins at 11am in Westminster Abbey (pictured on Friday), the Met Office has said
Temperatures dropped as low as 4C for those waiting in line overnight from Southwark Park to see the Queen as she lies in state at Westminster Hall on Friday and early on Saturday morning. Pictured: People in the queue this morning with blankets
Some sunshine will break through the clouds in Windsor in Berkshire later in the day, with temperatures hitting 17C as the Queen is laid to rest in the Royal Vault in St George’s Chapel in Windsor at 7.30pm.
Rachel Ayers from the Met Office said: ‘There may be some isolated mist and fog patches at first, most likely in the west.
‘It will be cloudy in the far northwest with patchy rain at times, otherwise it will be another mainly dry day with sunny spells; though some cloud will bubble up later with a few isolated light showers in places.
‘Light winds in general though it will be a breezy day in the far northwest.
‘Chilly start, though by day temperatures will be near normal.’
Rehearsals (pictured yesterday) have taken place over Saturday and Sunday to make sure that everything is in place for the funeral
Palace officials have extended the route of the Queen’s final journey from Westminster Abbey on Monday – the site of her funeral between 11am and 12pm – to Windsor Castle, her final resting place, to enable more people to bid her farewell.
First the Queen’s coffin will be borne by an extraordinary procession of the State Gun Carriage through London to Wellington Arch, where it will be transferred to the State Hearse at 1pm. Other members of the Royal Family will then travel along the M4 to Windsor, where a second ceremony will be held at St George’s Chapel.
Final preparations are underway for tomorrow’s funeral, as 2,000 VIPs – from world leaders Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Jacinda Ardern to royals including Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia and the Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima – have arrived throughout the weekend.
The Met Office said the weather would be cloudy, with temperatures hitting 17C but rain would be unlikely to fall. Pictured: Police officers rehearsing for the funeral on Thursday
Rehearsals have taken place over Saturday and Sunday to make sure that everything is in place for the Queen’s State Funeral, which will be the biggest show of pomp, pageantry and majesty seen in the modern age. World leaders and royalty from across the globe are flying in to pay their respects.
They will be joined by hundreds of charity representatives and members of the public honoured for their civic duty who have secured places in the 2,000-strong congregation at Westminster Abbey.
Temperatures dropped as low as 4C for those waiting in line overnight from Southwark Park to see the Queen as she lies in state at Westminster Hall on Friday and early on Saturday morning.
The official lying-in-state will come to an end at 6.30am tomorrow, after four clear days, as tens of thousands have travelled to London to glimpse the Queen’s coffin and pay their respects.
Conditions will stay the same after the hour-long service when the Queen’s coffin makes the 1.5-mile journey from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch for the public procession at 12.15pm
Those in the queue tonight will see a warmer night, staying dry with lows of 13C.
The Department for Culture, Digital, Media and Sport has now told people not to join the queue as a final decision is made about when it will close for good.
The Queen’s eight grandchildren held a moving vigil around her coffin last night, as the official lying-in-state nears its end.
Around a million people will line the streets of London tomorrow to witness historic scenes of breathtaking pomp and splendour, punctuated by historic moments of sorrow and solemnity, as Her Majesty’s coffin is transported from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey. The Queen’s coffin will then be transported by a spectacular procession from the abbey to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, before she is carried by State Hearse to Windsor. There, she will be lowered into the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel, where she will join her beloved husband the Duke of Edinburgh and parents King George VI and the Queen Mother, and where her sister Princess Margaret’s ashes are interred
Prince William, Prince Harry, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, arrived just before 6pm to hold a 15-minute vigil as members of the public filed past.
Brothers William and Harry were both dressed in uniform as they stood guard by their grandmother’s coffin in Westminster Hall.
During the one-minute national silence at 8pm tonight in memory of the Queen most of the country will avoid rain with temperatures around 16C in the capital and Windsor.
The Queen’s eight grandchildren held a moving vigil around her coffin last night, as the official lying-in-state nears its end. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II ‘s grandchildren (clockwise from front centre) the Prince of Wales, Peter Phillips, James, Viscount Severn, Princess Eugenie, the Duke of Sussex, Princess Beatrice, Lady Louise Windsor and Zara Tindall
Ms Ayers said: ‘Sunday is a cloudier picture across the UK than Saturday, though southern areas will see some bright or sunny spells to start.
‘Scattered showers will affect the Midlands northwards at times throughout the day, particularly across northern Scotland and Norfolk where showers are feeding in from the North Sea.
‘Staying cool in the east but temperatures near average elsewhere and locally feeling warm in any sunny spells in the far south.
‘Top temperatures will be around 19C.’
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