LONDON: New Year’s “Hogmanay” celebrations in Edinburgh, where tens of thousands of people gathered in the Scottish capital for street parties and fireworks displays, have been canceled due to bad weather, organizers said. knew on Monday.
According to the Met Office, the move comes as much of the UK is under severe weather warnings over the next week, with heavy rain and strong winds due to affect parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay New Year Festival, which attracts tourists and locals alike, typically includes a torchlight procession, epic street parties, live concerts and a fireworks display over the castle. Indoor events will continue.
Edinburgh Hogmanay organizers said: “Due to ongoing high winds and severe weather in Edinburgh city centre, we regret to announce that outdoor events are scheduled to take place this evening and December 31 cannot take place for public safety reasons.”
The Scottish Sun newspaper said this was only the fifth time the New Year celebration had been postponed, including two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Sydney’s New Year fireworks display, one of the world’s most spectacular rescheduled celebrations, is at risk of being canceled due to strike activity by train workers, police said. on Friday.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said up to 250,000 people were expected to travel to Sydney for the show and they would have to return home afterwards.
“If there are no trains and people cannot leave the city, I am very concerned about the risk that will pose to the public,” she told reporters.
“So I don’t rule out the possibility that we will ask the government to cancel fireworks displays.”
The state’s premier, Chris Minns, has rejected unions’ demands for an “exorbitant” pay rise, with a hearing scheduled for next week at the country’s industrial relations tribunal.
State rail, tram and bus union secretary, Toby Warnes, said they had no plans to inconvenience people, and accused the state government of “frightening New South Wales people into wanting to follow suit.” pursue a specific industrial strategy”.