Happy New Year: Hogmanay festivities cancelled due to bad weather

LONDON: Edinburgh’s New Year “Hogmanay” celebrations, where tens of thousands of revellers gather in the Scottish capital for street parties and fireworks, have been cancelled due to bad weather, organisers said on Monday.

The move comes as much of the UK is subject to severe weather warnings for the coming week, with heavy rain and strong winds due to affect parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, according to the Met Office.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay New Year Festival, a draw for tourists and locals alike, usually includes a torchlight procession, massive street parties, live concerts and a fireworks display over the castle. Indoor events will still go ahead.

“Due to ongoing high winds and inclement weather in Edinburgh city centre, we regret to announce that outdoor events scheduled for tonight and the 31st December are unable to go ahead on the grounds of public safety,” Edinburgh Hogmanay organisers said in a statement.

The Scottish Sun newspaper said it was only the fifth time the New Year celebrations had been called off, including for two years during the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Sydney New Year fireworks, one of the world’s most spectacular celebrations of the calendar change, face being scrapped because of industrial action by train workers, police said Friday.

Up to 250,000 people are expected to come into Sydney to see the show, and they need to return home afterwards, said New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb.

“If trains are not available and people cannot leave the city, I have very large concerns of the risk that will create to the public,” she told reporters.

“So I have not ruled out that we will recommend to the government that we cancel the fireworks.”

The state’s premier, Chris Minns, has rejected unions’ “exorbitant” pay rise demands, with a hearing scheduled next week in the country’s industrial relations tribunal.

The state rail, tram and bus union’s secretary, Toby Warnes, said it had no plan to inconvenience people, accusing the state government of “scaring the people of New South Wales because it wants to pursue a particular industrial strategy”.