Dry weather forecast for D-Day commemorations in Normandy

Thursday’s D-Day ceremonies, which mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, should be able to go ahead without disruption thanks to the dry weather, the Met Office said.

Forecaster Craig Snell said Normandy, where the main commemorations will take place, would be “generally dry” and cloudy in the morning but would clear around lunchtime.

Mr Snell said: “It will be quite dry either side of the channel. It should not prevent any commemoration during the day.

“It will be better weather compared to what they had then (in 1944). Less wind and probably a bit brighter.”

In Falmouth, Cornwall, which will host an 80-strong flotilla, there will be a “small chance” of scattered showers in the morning but “shouldn’t affect” the town’s plans to mark the anniversary.

At the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, where the Royal British Legion memorial service is being held this afternoon, there will be showers “from the start”.

Mr Snell said: “Staffordshire will see a higher chance of showers so people may need to have a runway handy.”

The weather was critical in setting the D-Day landing date.

US President Dwight Eisenhower moved the planned landings back 24 hours to June 4 because his forecasters predicted conditions would worsen, according to the Imperial War Museum.

However, the decision to move the landings back was difficult, as any further delay would risk the plans falling through.

Instead, they settled on June 6 based on a prediction by Mr. Eisenhower’s chief meteorologist, Group Captain James Stagg, that there would be a temporary break in the bad weather.

The weather on the planned day was “not ideal”, according to the Museum. Strong winds brought in the tide earlier than expected, making beach obstacles harder to see.

However, if the Allies had delayed by two weeks, it would have meant attempting a landing on 19 June, the day a severe storm hit the Channel, destroying one of the two Mulberry harbors and destroying the other, disrupting the transfer of troops allies in France. .