Greta Thunberg will be given a police escort when she arrives in Bristol for her UK climate rally today where thousands of children are expected to join her amid warnings of crushing
- Greta Thunberg, 17, set to speak to 15,000 activists at a protest Bristol today
- Police said the sheer size of event means safety measures ‘may not be adequate’
- Many roads in the city will be closed and two schools have shut for the day
Greta Thunberg is set to draw in thousands of children from across the UK to a mass climate change rally in Bristol today. amid numerous public safety warnings.
Parents have been warned to be vigilant at the demonstration attended by the 17-year-old amid concerns the city will be brought to a standstill.
Greta is set to arrived by train this morning, where she will be given a police escort from Temple Meads railway station to College Green.
At around 11am, she will address a Youth Strike for Climate rally, before parading at least 15,000 people through Bristol city centre.
Event organisers Bristol Youth 4 Climate claim between 15,000 and 60,000 people from around Britain will attend the Greta-led demonstration.
Roads in the north of the city will be closed between 9am and 5pm today, according to tweets of the route posted to social media by the organisers.
Barriers are erected outside College Green ahead of an appearance by environmental activist Greta Thunberg at the Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate protest today
Greta Thunberg (pictured meeting Malala Yousafzai on Tuesday) is set to speak to 15,000 activists and lead them through Bristol during a Youth Strike 4 Climate event today
One coach company said it was providing transport from 13 places around the UK, including Oxford, Birmingham, Brighton, and Cardiff.
The climate activist is also expected to visit a 50ft-high mural of herself half submerged in water painted against the wall of the Tobacco Factory in Bedminster.
Yesterday, council and police warned of multiple bus diversions and disruptions to traffic as they drew up plans to ‘manage public safety’.
In a joint statement published online, they said the area covered by road closures will stretch from Broadmead and the Bearpit through to Park Street.
‘We have seen a number of protests over the last year however this one will be significantly larger,’ it said. ‘Please do not underestimate the scale of this protest.’
They expect the protest, however, to remain ‘peaceful’.
Parents whose children may attend the march have also raised concerns about the potential for ‘crushing’ as Greta leads thousands through Bristol.
The climate change activist will also visit a 50ft high mural (seen on the side of an old factory building) of herself which was painted by local artist Jody Thomas
Two schools, Cathedral Choir and Cathedral Primary, have said they will be closed due to disruption caused by the protest (pictured, Greta in Hamburg, Germany last week)
Bristol Youth 4 Climate, which is part of a global movement of pupils which organises climate change strikes, hit back at ‘patronising’ public safety fears, declaring ‘the world’s youth are waking up to and taking action on the climate crisis’.
Around 60,000 people turned out to see Greta when she joined a protest in Hamburg. Since today’s event was announced, thousands of young people from across the country have expressed an interest in marching.
Some schools have agreed to let pupils attend with conditions, and others warn this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. Last night two Bristol schools – Cathedral Choir and Cathedral Primary – said they would be closing for the demo.
Greta has been in Britain since the weekend, visiting 22-year-old Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai at the University of Oxford.
The pair shared photos of each other, as Greta called Ms Yousafzai her role model, while she responded that Greta was ‘the only friend I’d skip school for’.
Greta started skipping school two years ago, and became famous for sitting outside the Swedish parliament protesting the Government’s climate policy.
She has since captured the imaginations of young people by demanding fr world leaders to take urgent action to prevent a so-called ‘environmental cataclysm’.