Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex will visit Manchester this morning ahead of the Queen’s funeral on Monday.
The royal couple will stay for just a few hours, visiting the Council’s book of condolence at Manchester Central Library to add their signatures, before moving on to view the floral tributes left in St Ann’s Square by locals in mourning.
The pair will also visit Manchester Cathedral today to light a candle for her late Majesty and view their books of condolence, and meet with volunteers involved with managing the tributes.
Council Leader Bev Craig, Lord Mayor of Manchester Cllr Donna Ludford and Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester Diane Hawkins will be amongst those on hand to greet the royals when they arrive in the city this morning and give introductory addresses.
Image: THe Manc Group
High Sheriff of Greater Manchester Lorraine Worsley-Carter will then read the proclamation before the Earl and Countess move on to St Ann’s Square.
In a statement released this morning, Manchester City Council announced that the royals would be making a visit to the city today and outlined the details of their visit. It said: “Today, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie, Countess of Wessex will visit Manchester.
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“They will arrive late morning at Central Library to sign The Queen’s Books of Condolence. Then on to St Ann’s Sq to see the tributes left by the public.
“They will end their visit at The Cathedral to view their Books of Condolence and to light a candle in memory of Her Majesty The Queen.”
Today, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie, Countess of Wessex will visit Manchester. pic.twitter.com/gykzj4V1HH
The royal visit comes ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, wwhich ill take place on Monday 19 September.
Manchester City Council has announced this morning that the funeral will be live streamed on large screens throughout the city centre. For those who want to come together to watch it, it will be shown on screens in Cathedral Gardens, Exchange Square and inside Manchester Cathedral.
The day has been declared an official bank holiday, and so far a large number of businesses including major supermarkets and retailers have announced that they will be closed.
A large number of events have also been cancelled on the day, as well as thousands of NHS hospital appointments including knee and hip replacements, cataract surgery, maternity check-ups and some cancer treatments.
The UK looks set for a ’30°C heatwave’ this summer, according to weather expert
Danny Jones
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down spring but the warm weather is finally starting to arrive here in Manchester, with temperatures reaching up to 21°C this week and the summery vibes only set to increase over the next month or so as meteorologists are predicting a 30°C heatwave soon enough.
March onwards has been a pure mix of blustery winds, grey skies and flashes of rainfall, with just a few glimpses of sun peeking through and the thermometer has still been struggling to get into double digits – until now anyway.
As we leave April behind, the forecast across the UK is looking a lot brighter and according to the likes of the Met Office, those numbers are going to keep creeping as we head deeper into the month.
In fact, some experts are predicting that Britain could be set for a heatwave with temperatures of 30°C and over in just over a month’s time. It better bloody hurry up, put it that way.
According to Jim Dale, Senior Meteorologist at British Weather Services, while much of May will be a bit of a mixed bag, “towards the latter stage and into June and July… we will see climbing temperatures well into the 30s in the prone areas.”
As reported by Birmingham Live, while Dale didn’t detail the kind of heat Manchester can expect, specifically, the indication is that the region is beginning to dry and the country as a whole is now heading “in the right direction”.
Although it likely won’t be until the very tail end of May that we start to see the summer as we know rolling in, the trends around the continent are suggesting positive signs, adding that “a lot of Europe is getting the scorching hot temperatures” of late.
The Met Office’s Tom Morgan also warned The Guardian that we get anything close to a heatwave this month, so we’ll have to be patient and wait for the turn come June time, especially up North.
Temperatures are on the rise this week, but not everywhere will see the warmth all the time 🌡️
Oban in the west of Scotland sees a steady increase towards the weekend 📈
Where as Newcastle will see its highest temperature today before dropping off later in the week 📉 pic.twitter.com/gUOXDjm8YF
While we did enjoy a heatwave in September of last year, hitting a top end of 33.5°C, the chances of the country challenging the most recent temperature record sat back in 2022 (40.3°C in July 2023) are still looking slim.
April has been described as a “month of two halves” overall and let’s just say we’re looking forward to a strong showing this May.
Where in Greater Manchester are you most looking forward to heading when summer finally arrives?
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Dunk (via Flickr)
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Co-op Live assures fans arena WILL open this week in time for Olivia Rodrigo and other gigs
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s huge new arena the Co-op Live has assured fans that it will definitely, actually, for sure open this week.
The staggering new music venue beside the Etihad Stadium has been hit by a couple of high-profile delays in the last fortnight.
Although a test event with Rick Astley went ahead on 21 April, giving a small audience a glimpse inside the state-of-the-art arena, the brakes were slammed on soon afterwards.
Co-op Live pushed its opening date back while it ironed out some kinks, namely ‘power supply issues’, and underwent rigorous testing to ‘run all shows safely’.
That meant Peter Kay was rescheduled to 29 and 30 April… but then got postponed again, along with The Black Keys, who were meant to perform last weekend.
All the delays have left fans panicking that their shows will also be delayed, with some huge shows like Olivia Rodrigo, Take That, and Liam Gallagher lined up in the coming weeks and months.
But Co-op Live has now issued a statement reassuring gig-goers that they are full steam ahead and ready to open as planned this week.
The first act to perform here officially will now be A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on 1 May (not quite as local a name as they were gunning for, but we move).
He’ll be followed by Olivia Rodrigo and her Guts Tour, who will perform two sold-out gigs on 3 and 4 May.
Olivia Rodrigo has announced a Manchester gig at Co-op Live. Credit: Nick WalkerKeane – Photography by ALEX LAKE insta @twoshortdays WWW.TWOSHORTDAYS.COMOlivia Rodrigo and Keane will both play Co-op Live in Manchester this week when it finally opens
Then Keane will play the Co-op Live on 5 May to mark 20 years since the release of Hopes and Fears.
Co-op Live posted: “Let’s do this! Less than 48 hours until we kick off our full opening season.
“Our scheduled shows with @aboogievsartist, @oliviarodrigo and @keaneofficial are going ahead.
“Ticket holders can expect an email with everything they need to know about this week’s events to land in your inboxes tomorrow!”
Fans have breathed a sigh of relief at the news, with one person writing: “YAY THANK GOD OMG THIS IS AMAZING WAS LITERALLY HAVJNG A MENTAL BREAKDOWN BOUT OLIVIA BEING CANCELLED.”
Another commented: “THANK GOD!!! 4th mayyyy.”
Someone else posted: “IM SO HAPPY AHHHHHH I’VE BEEN NERVOUS ALL WEEK BUT NOW I KNOW ITS GONNA BE FINE AHHH.”
Olivia Rodrigo fans are BIG believers in an all-caps comment, clearly.
Co-op Live will open in Manchester on Wednesday 1 May.
It’s going to be worth the wait, we’re pretty sure…
Georgina Pellant -
15th September 2022 
