Lyme Regis will get a red arrows schedule update on Friday, when the Red Arrows fly over the seafront and Lyme Bay at 18:35 BST. The team will not put on a full aerobatic display in the town; the revised plan replaces an earlier appearance that was cancelled.
Philip Evans and Lyme Regis
The town’s mayor, Philip Evans, said Lyme Regis was delighted to welcome them back to its skies. “We were naturally disappointed when circumstances outside anyone's control meant the Red Arrows couldn't join us earlier this month, so we're delighted that Lyme Regis has another opportunity to welcome them back to our skies.”
He added: “It may only be a brief visit this time, but we're sure it will still be a spectacular sight over Lyme Bay and something residents and visitors will enjoy.” The new timing gives Lyme Regis a short flypast rather than the longer display that had been planned for the Lyme Regis RNLI Lifeboat Week on 16 August.
Lyme Regis RNLI Lifeboat Week
The Red Arrows pulled out on 16 August after poor weather left them grounded at Goose Bay. The gap in the schedule was filled by the Bradninch Red Barrows. They later arrived back in the UK at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland after refuelling stops in Greenland and Iceland.
The team was delayed returning from its tour of the US, and that affected displays including Lyme Regis Lifeboat Week and Airbourne in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Because the Red Arrows are unable to refuel mid-flight, the return timetable had to be adjusted around operational constraints as well as the weather forecast.
Sidmouth and RAF Wyton
The Friday change in Lyme Regis sits alongside other changes in the same week. The planned display at the RAF Wyton Families' Day in Cambridgeshire was cancelled on Thursday afternoon, and the Sidmouth Regatta and Airshow display in Devon became a flypast at 18:40 on Friday.
Saturday lunchtime had first been set for the Lyme Regis flypast, before the timetable moved forward to Friday evening. For residents and visitors in Lyme Regis, that means the aircraft return in a shorter form, with the brief flypast now the event to watch for over the coast.
