'Severe weather' forces cancellation of Edinburgh Botanics Christmas lights show

The Christmas lights show at Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens has been cancelled tonight due to "severe weather."
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The Met Office has forecast rain and wind gusts of more than 45mph in Edinburgh for Thursday night.

A tweet posted this afternoon by the official Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) page said: "Due to severe weather #ChristmasAtTheBotanics is cancelled tonight, Thurs 5 Dec. Ticket holders will be informed of the re-booking process. You will soon be contacted by your ticket agent with details for rescheduling. Check our website for details."

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A RBGE spokeswoman said: "Having studied severe weather warnings over the last few days, the difficult decision has been taken to cancel this evening’s Christmas at the Botanics event. Our first concern is for our visitors’ safety and, with the Met Office website showing forecasts of strong wind in this area, with gusts over 40mph, cancellation – although disappointing for ticket-holders – is the responsible action to take.

"Tonight's ticket holders are being informed of the situation by their ticket agents and will be guided through the process of rescheduling. Our staff at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh are also working closely with the event promoters at Sony Music to ensure every effort is made to find suitable alternatives for everyone who had hoped to come along this evening.

"Further information can be found on our website www.rbge.org.uk/christmas and on social media.

“Any decision to cancel the event is made at 2pm on the day of the event. We will continue to monitor the weather forecasts on a daily basis to ensure the safety of our visitors."

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The official Edinburgh Castle twitter account also tweeted: "Due to the current weather conditions, we unfortunately have to cancel this evening's #CastleOfLight Ticket holders will receive an email with information about refunds or rescheduling. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. #HSclosure"

Christmas at the Botanic Garden runs until December 29th.Christmas at the Botanic Garden runs until December 29th.
Christmas at the Botanic Garden runs until December 29th.

High winds forced the cancellation of the lights show on Friday, December 7th last year. At the time, the RBGE said it was the responsible action to this action and said it was important to avoid the possibility having to turn people away.