The opening of Bolton’s annual food and drink festival has been delayed following a yellow weather warning for wind issued by the Met Office.

The festival – which was due to open on Friday morning – will now be opening in the afternoon after concerns over the impact of the wind on the 200 market stalls and stages being put in place as a result of Storm Lilian.

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A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “We are looking forward to welcoming visitors to the Bolton Food and Drink Festival for what will be a spectacular and memorable bank holiday weekend.

“As ever, our top priority remains the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved with the festival.

“We continue to monitor the situation following the Met Office weather warning for Friday morning, with Storm Lilian forecast to bring strong winds to much of the North of England.

“As it stands, we will be delaying the public opening of the festival until 2pm on Friday, August 23rd.

“Any further updates will be provided on the festival website and social media channels.

“However, following the advice of the Met Office, there is no further disruption expected during the festival.

“We are sure visitors will make the most of our 200 market stalls, live music, cooking demonstrations, ticketed events, celebrity spectaculars and free family entertainment across Friday afternoon and for the rest of the weekend.” 

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The Met Office says strong winds are expected to move east across the north as a result of Storm Lilian – with gusts in the 50 to 60mph range said to be likely.

The weather agency says there is a lower chance that some winds could gust from 65 to 75mph, perhaps even reach 80mph – affecting routes including the M6, A66, and A1(M).

The agency says locally heavy rainfall will add to ‘difficult travel conditions’ – and advises planning ahead.

According to the Met Office’s ‘impact matrix’, the weather event has a ‘low likelihood and medium impact’, giving it the red status.

A yellow weather warning is the lowest level of warning issued by the weather agency.

Higher level warnings issued by the agency are amber warnings and the rare red warnings.

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.