Today marks the 80th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle’s famous speech to the French people from London in a bid to build support for the resistance against the German occupation of France in World War II and the occasion is being marked by a historic flypast.
For the first time ever the Royal Air Force (RAFAT) Red Arrows will be joined in a flypast over London by the French display team, La Patrouille de France.
The teams have flown together before though at the Royal International Air Tattoo when they celebrated the 50th anniversary of Concorde in 2019.
Where can I see the aircraft?
The aircraft are due to depart RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at 16:42 Local time (15:42 UTC) for the short flight to London.
En route the aircraft will pass over the North Wessex Downs meaning people in Newbury, Reading, Bracknell and Slough might have a chance to see the teams between 16:45 and 16:58 local time depending on the weather and exact flight path.
The teams will then fly over Richmond Park and Buckingham Palace at 17:00 local time.
After London, the Red Arrows will return to their home base at RAF Scampton passing over Norfolk and Lincolnshire while the French head back over the channel crossing the counties of Kent and Sussex, so it is worth looking up just after 5pm if you are in those areas.
Predicted Flight Route
Will the weather be ok?
The weather isn’t looking fantastic, According to MeteoGroup, the forecast for London at 5pm is Heavy Rain Showers and cloudy but importantly for a flypast, the visibility is expected to be good.
Whether you see the teams en-route or not could simply be down to breaks in the cloud.