Notting Hill Carnival: 97 arrests and 11 officers hurt on the first day
Written by News on 26/08/2019
Almost 100 people were arrested by the end of the first day of Notting Hill Carnival, police have said.
The 97 arrests included 12 people suspected of assaulting police officers, 41 for drug offences, nine for possession of an offensive weapon and three for sexual offences.
Eleven police officers were injured on the first day of the annual two-day event held in west London.
Last year, two people were stabbed during carnival weekend and 45 police officers were injured.
Officers said an increase in screening arches, which are used to detect weapons, had been a “fantastic deterrent”.
Almost 12,500 police officers and some 1,000 stewards will be at the carnival, which celebrates London’s Caribbean community and its heritage.
For at least four decades the event has fallen on the late August bank holiday – and some carnival goers suffered as temperature records were broken.
Several were treated for dehydration and intoxication amid soaring temperatures, London Ambulance Service said.
More than one million people are expected to attend across the two days and they have been warned to make sure they stay safe in the heat.
Meanwhile, a 72-second silence is going to be held in memory of those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
The tower block stands within half a mile of the parade route.
This year’s carnival will also be the greenest ever, according to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Five-hundred new environmentally friendly compostable toilets are being used and additional water points will save an estimated 15,000 bottles of water. Around 50 street vendors have also pledged to recycle their food waste.
Meanwhile, expect more of the same from the weather today, with Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell saying: “All in all, if you like the sunshine and the hot weather, then it is going to be a good day.”
Sunday’s top temperature was 33.3C (92F) at Heathrow, beating the previous August bank holiday record by almost 2C.
Wales enjoyed a record 28.6C (83.5F) in Hawarden, Northern Ireland’s top was 24.2C (75.6F) at Stormont Castle, and Bishopton near Glasgow recorded Scotland’s top temperature of 28.4C (83.1F).
Mr Snell said “something like 33C” was likely today, adding: “There could be scope that the record could be nudged up, but either way, it is going to be a hot day across the UK.”
There will be early fog but this will lift to a sunny day across eastern and central parts of the UK but it will be fresher in the North and West with some rain possible in the far North West later.
Temperatures in the West, Northern Ireland and the South could be in the low 20s, Mr Snell said.
(c) Sky News 2019: Notting Hill Carnival: 97 arrests and 11 officers hurt on the first day
