Forecasters warn ‘scattered showers’ could hit Wimbledon today as queue sees surge in fans

Wimbledon fans may be met with ‘scattered’ bouts of rain today after the deluge on the second day of the tournament stopped play on outside courts yesterday.

The Met Office has predicted showers, some of which may be on the heavy side, across southeast England today, but also said it should feel slightly warmer for many.

Stewards helping to manage the queue for on-the-day tickets said it is ‘definitely’ bigger today because of the improved weather forecast. 

It comes as event organisers and national sporting bodies will meet Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Sports Secretary Lucy Frazer to discuss the Just Stop Oil and Animal Rising groups.

Ms Braverman will today hold talks with senior sporting figures and police leaders on protecting Wimbledon and other events this summer from disruptive protests.

Wimbledon fans may be met with ‘scattered’ bouts of rain today, the Met Office has warned. Tennis fans are pictured in the queue on day three of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships

Stewards helping to manage the queue for on-the-day tickets said it is ‘definitely’ bigger because of the improved weather forecast. Wimbledon fans are pictured in the queue at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Wednesday

Tennis fans Farah and Mohamed El Kazzaz, from Surrey, said they have been ‘lucky’ with the weather at Wimbledon.

The couple arrived at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) in south-west London just before 5am today and are around 1,400 in the queue, which they have been told should get them tickets for Court Two. 

‘We were lucky today – we thought the weather would be good,’ Mr El Kazzaz, 52, said, adding: ‘We would have come anyway.’ 

Mrs El Kazzaz, 49, said: ‘It’s been really nice. The weather helps, I think, that it’s not raining. The sun’s coming out.’

Heidi Watson, 52, from Surrey, said: ‘I think the camping (last night) was not as big because it was such a rainy night. But as we were coming out (this morning) the amount of people coming in, wow, it was filling the field.’

The Wimbledon veteran, who has queued most years for over 20 years, added: ‘A lot of people went home as well because it was raining…not us hardened ones.’

Ms Watson said she was originally going to queue for Tuesday but decided against it because of the weather.

The Met Office has predicted showers, some of which may be on the heavy side, across southeast England today

The forecasting body also said it should feel slightly warmer for many

READ MORE: What is the order of play on Day Three? And how can you watch it all? 

Katie Boulter’s first-round clash against Daria Saville will resume after being suspended due to rain

All play stopped on outside courts at Wimbledon yesterday following a grey afternoon of consistent downpours.

The Referee’s Office announced that 69 matches were cancelled over the course of the afternoon. Returning spectators will get another chance to watch them.

The AELTC confirmed that tickets bought for Courts Two and Three as well as grounds passes bought before 5pm will receive a full refund.

The Princess of Wales arrived in SW19 yesterday and was forced to take shelter under an umbrella as showers poured down on Court 18, where she was watching British number one Katie Boulter.

She then moved to the royal box at Wimbledon’s Centre Court where she was welcomed with applause.

Kate chatted with former US Open winner Emma Raducanu in between watching matches.

In a video posted by MailOnline, the princess reminisced on queueing up for Wimbledon with family.

‘We would be there at the crack of dawn, maybe not overnight but at the crack of dawn,’ Kate told the tennis star.

Chatting about Raducanu’s training, the princess went on: ‘I bet you’re itching, especially when this is all going on around you.’

Kate is the patron of the Lawn Tennis Association and regularly attends Wimbledon.

All play stopped on outside courts at Wimbledon on Tuesday following a grey afternoon of consistent downpours. Fans are pictured in the queue on Wednesday

Spectators have their bags checked by security during day three of the tournament

Tennis fans are pictured in the queue on day three of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon

Seats are cleaned down on court 7 ahead of play on the third day of the Wimbledon Championships

Former champion Roger Federer was also welcomed to the box on Centre Court.

He took a seat next to the princess, who stood clapping as the 41-year-old arrived at the scene of his eight titles for the first time since he retired last September.

British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was imprisoned in Iran for six years, sat behind them.

They watched the all-British clash between a victorious Sir Andy Murray and fellow Briton Ryan Peniston.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe met Sir Andy in December last year and recalled watching him win Wimbledon in 2016 from solitary confinement, saying he offered a ‘connection’ to her life outside prison and an ‘escape’ from her six-year detention.

The tennis star later told reporters it was ‘brilliant’ that she could come to watch him play and quipped that she seemed happy that he won.

Cameron Norrie also got through to the second round of the tournament.

Home fans will be cheering for Jodie Burrage as she faces Russian Daria Kasatkina on Centre Court on Wednesday.

British colleagues Katie Boulter, Arthur Fery, Heather Watson, George Loffhagen, Sonay Kartal and Jan Choinski are also set to play.

The Princess of Wales arrived in SW19 on Tuesday and was forced to take shelter under an umbrella as showers poured down on Court 18, where she was watching British number one Katie Boulter

Former champion Roger Federer was also welcomed to the box on Centre Court. He took a seat next to Princess Catherine

The Princess of Wales (pictured at the tournament on Tuesday) is the patron of the Lawn Tennis Association and regularly attends Wimbledon

Yesterday morning, fans in the queue were optimistic about their chances of watching the second day of the tournament after hold-ups at security frustrated spectators on Monday.

On day one, some who had visited Wimbledon in previous years said the queue was the ‘worst’ they had seen.

Heightened security was blamed for causing delays in the queue on Monday and the AELTC twice apologised for the long waits.

Wimbledon organisers have said they are ‘not complacent’ about the ‘high’ risk of protest at the tournament and explained they had boosted security measures over concerns about disruption. 

Bosses also held a crisis meeting after the beefed up security measures caused huge queues on the opening day of the Championships.

The club has apologised to fans after many went home after being forced to wait hours in line due to 100 per cent bag checks on Monday.

Michelle Dite, Wimbledon operations director, said her team went ‘right back to the plan’ and questioned ‘is the plan working in terms of right personnel, flows, processes’.

She added: ‘We’re sorry that there were a number of people that were in that queue for a long time.’

Wimbledon bosses held a crisis meeting after beefed up security measures caused huge queues on the opening day of the Championship (queues pictured on Monday)

Thousands of ticketless tennis fans queue in the early morning sunshine in Wimbledon Park on day one of the Wimbledon tennis championships to gain entry

But Ms Dite said they were ‘confident’ that the steps they have taken should alleviate the problems and vowed to improve communications with fans at the back of the line.

The club said it was the most amount of visitors they had since 2019 with Covid cancelling the queue and numbers not recovering last year.

In total 11,500 people entered through the queue, with some having camped overnight, but there was ‘no intelligence’ that any protester tried to get in.

But Ms Dite warned ‘every day is like another day’, adding: ‘Generally it’s high risk – full stop.’

The championships will run until July 16.