LONDON: New Year revellers were advised to dress warmly on Wednesday with temperatures expected to drop below zero across most of Britain by midnight.

But there was good news for those planning to stay out to watch firework displays with a rain-free night forecast and only patchy clouds.

The Met Office said people accustomed to recent warmer winters should prepare for a chilly evening, with temperatures falling to as much as minus 7 degrees Celsius overnight in Inverness in north east Scotland.

"It's really going to be a night to wrap up warm," said a Met Office spokesman.

Midnight temperatures are forecast to sink to minus three degrees Celsius in Newcastle and Birmingham, minus two in Cardiff and Bristol, minus one in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with the mercury hovering just below zero in London.

London Mayor Boris Johnson is spending up to 500,000 pounds on a ten-minute midnight firework display at the London Eye on the Thames.

He will quote the cult Vietnam film "Apocalypse Now" in a pre-recorded video message to be projected on the Shell Building on the river's south bank.

"There are those who say we should look ahead to 2009 with foreboding," he will tell New Year crowds.

"I want to quote Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now when he says 'Someday captain, this war is going to end', and someday, this recession is going to end."

In Edinburgh thousands are expected to throng the city's Hogmanay street celebrations, with live bands and DJs entertaining the crowds on four stages.

In Cardiff X-Factor contestant Andy Abraham will welcome revellers attending the city's Calennig New Year event.

 

 

Source : Reuters