England: Olympic Games opening ceremony to escape the rain

London Olympics starting today

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics is set to escape a band of heavy showers that are predicted in the capital today, according to forecasters.


Following a week of sunshine and scorching temperatures, a spell of rainy and possibly thundery weather is expected to hit the South East later as the countdown to the official start of the London Games reaches fever pitch.

London will be most at at risk during the morning and early afternoon, but experts said the showers should have cleared by 9pm when the eagerly awaited £27 million showpiece gets under way.

Temperatures are also expected to remain warm for tens of thousands of spectators making their way to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London.  Claire Austin, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "We are expecting some heavy showers around today in central and south-eastern parts of England. "They should have mostly died away by 7-8pm, so hopefully it should be dry from then onwards."

Read more: Olympic Games opening ceremony to escape the rain - Home News - UK - The Independent