King Charles Coronation damper: Flypast could be cancelled over rain fears

King Charles’ Coronation is set to take place today, May 6, at the Westminster Abbey in London, however, heavy rain predictions are already putting a damper on plans, including fears that the iconic flypast over Buckingham Palace could be cancelled.

The Coronation flypast is scheduled for 2:30 pm, London time, today but the Met Office has predicted that the capital has a 90% chance of heavy rain at that time.

Talking about the safety risks that heavy rain would pose to pilots and aircraft, the UK Ministry of Defence warned yesterday that the show could very well be cancelled.

“There are certain weather limits in terms of cloud base and visibility for a flypast involving a large number of aircraft which will need to be met,” a spokesman said.

They added: “The latest weather information will be obtained from both the Met Office and from our helicopters performing weather checks in advance of the main flypast on Saturday. If suitable, the flypast will continue as planned.”

“If not, then there are options available to reduce the numbers of aircraft, with cancellation being the last resort. Clearly there are many things the MoD does control, but the weather is not one of them. Safety will always be our primary concern,” the spokesman concluded.

The special Coronation flypast will happen as the Royal family, including the newly crowned King Charles, stands on the famous Buckingham Palace balcony to greet crowds.

60 aircraft are said to be taking part in the flypast, including the Red Arrows, the Battle of Britain memorial flight, F-35s and Typhoons.