Tonight's Illuminated Tram Parade in Blackpool has been cancelled

It means the illuminated spectacle, featuring the battleship HMS Blackpool, the Fisherman’s Friend trawler and the lottery-funded Great Western Train will not be lighting up the Prom tonight.

The trams were due to leave from outside Blackpool Pleasure Beach at around 5pm and were to be joined at Central Pier by the rest of the procession.

But organisers have had to pull the plug on the event due to "heavy rain and wind" which is forecast for the Fylde Coast this evening.

A spokesman for Visit Blackpool said: "Unfortunately the weather is not being kind to us this evening with heavy rain and wind forecast.

"Due to this, many aspects of the Illuminated Tram Parade would not be able to go ahead and therefore we have taken the difficult decision to cancel the event this evening.

"We were looking forward to seeing our visitors and residents enjoying this free live performance in its full splendour.

"We are all enormously disappointed that we have had to make the unfortunate decision to cancel but the safety of our performers and visitors is our main priority.

"We hope you can still take advantage of the indoor events and light installations across Blackpool during Lightpool Festival."

You can still look forward to these Lightpool Festival events this week

- Carnival Magic will be taking place in The Blackpool Tower Ballroom tomorrow (Thursday, October 28) for ticket holders.

- You can still experience the Silent Disco on The Fifth Floor in The Blackpool Tower on Friday, October 29.

- And, starting today, you can check out Luma, the huge inflatable snail in the Winter Gardens, as well as 100 'Local Lanterns' in The Old Electric as they make their debut as part of the Light Art Trail across the town centre.

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