TAVISTOCK Carnival procession has been cancelled tomorrow night, Saturday, as the Met Office issues two severe weather warnings of strong winds and thunderstorms.

Steve Grummitt from organisers the Lions Club of Tavistock said the club had made the decision reluctantly after hearing the forecast, with very strong winds and possible thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon. There are Met Office Yellow Warnings in place today, Friday, and tomorrow, Saturday.

There are tentative plans to reschedule the carnival procession for the afternoon of Saturday, September 24.

Steve said: "The forecast is talking about high winds and thunderstorms so we have made the difficult decision to cancel the procession for the first time, certainly since the Lions started running it in 1979. This is the first time since then that we haven’t run it, apart from the pandemic years.

"We felt, though, that from a health and safety point of view, with the forecast as it is, that we had to take this decision.

He added: "The plan at the moment is to rerun the procession on Sunday, September 24 in the afternoon. We are canvassing people’s opinions on what we do but hopefully we are brining it forward to 4pm, because the evenings will be starting to close in then.

The procession which is the culmination of a successful week of events, was to have seen floats and people in costume parade through town, with costumes on the theme of The Sound of Musicals.

Steve added: "It was a difficult decision to make but I think it was the right one in view of the forecast. We could see a lot of other events were being cancelled because of the weather.’

The cancellation comes as an Atlantic low-pressure system brings unseasonably strong winds, and heavy rain or showers to many places across the UK today and tomorrow, Friday and Saturday.

Two yellow National Severe Weather Warnings for wind have been issued highlighting the potential for travel disruption to South Wales and tsouthwest England on Friday and the south and east of England on Saturday.

Met Office chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said: “Strong winds will develop across the South West early on Friday, pushing further north across parts of Wales through the day. Gusts of 35 to 45 mph are likely quite widely for a time, with gusts over 50 mph affecting some coasts and hills, mainly across Cornwall and west Wales.

“This is an unusual time of year for such strong winds and, with many people on holiday or planning outdoor activities, they are likely to cause some disruption. In addition, heavy rain could lead to standing water and spray on roads and consequently difficult driving conditions. Winds are expected to ease through the evening.

“Temperatures are expected to stay near average or rather cool over the coming days especially in the rain and wind.”

The start of the weekend sees blustery conditions, showers and a risk of some thunder, as the deep area of low pressure continues to have an impact. With some very strong gusts of wind likely to the south of the system on Saturday another warning has been issued.

The winds will be strongest in the south and east of England where gusts are expected to widely reach 40mph, with 50 to 55mph in exposed places such as over hills and along the south coast. There could again see some minor impacts and travel disruption before the winds ease later in the evening.