High winds and heavy rain battering the UK have caused travel problems and the cancellation of a swathe of new year events including firework displays, charity swims, and a bathtub race that takes place in Europe’s largest natural harbour.
The predicted strong winds led to the cancellation of displays heralding the arrival of 2025 in places including Blackpool, Newcastle’s quayside, the Isle of Wight, Bangor in north Wales and Ripon in North Yorkshire, joining the already cancelled Hogmanay festival in Edinburgh.
In Lowestoft, Suffolk, two firework displays scheduled for New Year’s Day were postponed until Saturday.
A spokesperson for Newcastle city council said the cancellation of its New Year’s Eve fireworks was a tough decision but “the forecast has made it clear that continuing would pose risks to those attending, as well as our event teams working on site”.
They added: “We understand how disappointing this news will be for both residents and visitors, including those who’ve travelled to our city.”
The UK Met Office has a patchwork of weather warnings in place for almost every part of the country until Thursday, and people are advised to check forecasts for their area.
An amber warning for heavy rain has been put in place across parts of north-west England until 9am on New Year’s Day.
The Met Office warning stretches from Settle in the Yorkshire Dales to Preston and down to parts of the Peak District.
The warning states that heavy rain is “likely to lead to disruption including flooding in some locations” with a chance some places could see more than 10cm of rain.
Steve Willington, a Met Office chief meteorologist, said: “Almost the entire UK is covered by at least one weather warning during the coming week, demonstrating that it is a complicated weather forecast at the moment.”
Meanwhile, the most severe warning, an amber one for heavy rain in northern Scotland, was in place until 5pm on New Year’s Eve. A yellow warning for rain and snow in Moray, Orkney and Shetland was in place until 4am.
In north-west England and Wales there is a 24-hour yellow warning for heavy rain from 6pm on New Year’s Eve.
There is a yellow warning across Wales and southern parts of England for much of New Year’s Day, with predicted coastal winds of up to 75mph (120km/h). A yellow weather warning for strong winds was in place across Northern Ireland until 2pm on New Year’s Eve.
North Yorkshire has been hit hard by the weather, with Ripon city council cancelling a New Year’s Eve event in the market square featuring music, dancing and fireworks. The National Trust closed the Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal estate on Tuesday because of high winds and heavy rain.
On the roads, the A66 over the Pennines between Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire and the M6 at Penrith, Cumbria, was closed to “high-sided and vulnerable vehicles” – including all vans and motorcycles – because of the strong winds. National Highways announced the restriction at 5.26am on Tuesday.
A landslide closed the A832 between Fortrose and Avoch in the Scottish Highlands on Tuesday morning and police said it would be impassable for some time.
National Rail said the weather warnings for rain, wind and snow could affect services across the UK until Thursday and advised passengers to check before travelling.
Several ferry services on the west coast of Scotland were disrupted or cancelled. All sailings between Douglas and Heysham were scrapped.
Many parts of the UK remain at risk of flooding. Stefan Laeger, a flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, advised people travelling or celebrating new year to be “especially careful”. He urged people to stay away from swollen rivers and not to drive through flood water, “as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car”.
Laeger said: “Heavy and persistent rain tonight and into tomorrow means river levels are likely to be high across the north of England, Pennines and parts of the Midlands until the end of the week, with significant inland flooding possible until Thursday and minor impacts possible on Friday.”
In Poole, Dorset, the annual New Year’s Day bathtub race, in which for 40 years people have paddled along the quay in their homemade, mostly bodged boats, was cancelled. The local council said the expected “severity of the swell of the water” meant rescue ribs would be unable to launch.
The prospect of high winds and big waves led to the cancellation of New Year’s Day dips in places including Saltburn in North Yorkshire, Newport in Pembrokeshire and Lyme Regis in Dorset.
Announcing the cancellation of the Lyme Lunge fancy dress dip because of forecast winds of 50-60mph, the town’s rotary club said: “I think you will all agree that we must put the safety of Lungers first.”
London’s New Year’s Eve firework display on the Thames was still scheduled to go ahead, as authorities said the weather was being closely monitored.
The biggest cancellation was Edinburgh’s Hogmanay festival, an event with music, street parties and fireworks that normally attracts about 50,000 revellers. Organisers apologised to international tourists who had travelled to the city for the festivities.
Aditi Sahu, 35, and Neeraj Krishnan, 35, had travelled from London and planned their trip around the fireworks. Krishnan said: “We feel like we are stranded. We don’t really know what to do for new year.”
The Scottish culture secretary, Angus Robertson, said the decision to cancel was “undoubtedly” correct. He told Radio 4’s Today programme: “The organisers believe that they took the decision quite early for the reason that they wanted to be able to communicate to people who have been travelling now.”
He said it was “hugely disappointing” but said there was still lots happening in Edinburgh on New Year’s Eve. “There will be all kinds of events, the pubs and clubs will be open. I’m truly sorry for everybody who has travelled but I think given the extent of the weather forecast – it’s really, really bad in some parts of the country – it’s not the right thing to proceed.”
There is little sign of the UK’s weather improving. The Met Office’s Craig Snell said: “It will be a tricky couple of days and a wet and windy spell for many into the new year. We’re encouraging anyone who is planning to travel to keep up to date with the weather forecast and news from their local authorities.”
While there will be fewer fireworks this year, the Met Office said there was at least a chance of seeing a natural display, the northern lights, in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England on New Year’s Eve. It said conditions would be mostly cloudy but there could be “transient” clear spells between 6pm and 9pm.
