VE Day at 80: What's to come - and what you might have missed

VE Day marked the end of World War Two in Europe. Huge crowds took to the streets on 8 May 1945 to sing, dance and rejoice after nearly six years of war.

To mark the 80th anniversary, four days of commemorative events have been planned across the UK, from 5 to 8 May. Here's a round-up of what's happening on Thursday and the moments you might have missed.

The Royal Family are attending a service of remembrance and thanksgiving in honour of the WW2 generation taking place at Westminster Abbey on Thursday.

Back in 1945, short services were held every hour in the Abbey to mark the national holiday with about 25,000 people in attendance across the day.

Exactly 80 years later, the Abbey service is being attended by hundreds of worshippers, including WW2 veterans, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, former UK prime ministers and the King and Queen.

• VE Day: Thanksgiving service and two-minute silence to mark 80th anniversary

At noon on Thursday, much of the UK fell silent for two minutes to remember those who fought in WW2. Government departments flew the union jack flag at full-mast.

Across the four days of commemorations, London's Cenotaph has become a focal point of quiet reflections. The monument, also draped in union jack flags, has offered a place for people to pay silent tribute to those who died in the war.

On Thursday evening, a VE Day concert is taking place at London's Horse Guards Parade to conclude the national commemorations. Called VE Day 80: A Celebration to Remember, it will be presented by Zoe Ball and feature stars such as Samantha Barks, Fleur East and John Newman. The King and Queen will be in the audience.

At the Royal Albert Hall, another concert, VE Day 80: The Party, is being held on Thursday evening. It will feature the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and is organised by SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.

And pubs in England and Wales will stay open late on Thursday to allow customers to raise a glass in their local until 01:00 BST.

Outside London, elaborate VE Day celebrations are planned across the country. To search for an event in your local area, visit your council website or use the ve-vjday80.go.uk.

In Staffordshire, the Royal British Legion is hosting an anniversary tea party and service of remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum on Thursday, bringing together one of the largest gatherings of WW2 veterans and their families on VE Day.

In Belfast, there will be guided tours of wartime landmarks. Over the weekend in Pontypool Wales, the Blaenavon Workmen's Hall, is hosting a Great Victory Bake off, a Knit for Victory event and a costume competition. On the UK's north coast at Banff Castle, a "full programme of music, dance and entertainment" is slated to celebrate Scotland's wartime and community spirt.

On Monday, more than 1,300 armed forces and members of the public took part in a military procession from Whitehall to Buckingham Palace. You can watch the parade on BBC iPlayer.

The event began in Parliament Square with actor Timothy Spall reciting extracts from Prime Minister Winston Churchill's famous VE Day speech. The procession travelled down Whitehall, past the Cenotaph, through Admiralty Arch and up the Mall.

World War Two veterans watched the event from the end of the Mall at the Queen Victoria Memorial, alongside the King, Queen and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The procession was followed by a flypast of current and historic military aircraft. Led by one of two operational Lancaster bombers as well as some of the most advanced combat aircraft, it also featured the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows, famous for their red, white and blue smoke trails in the sky.

Three generations of the Royal Family delighted crowds with their appearance at Monday's military parade.

King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Catherine, Princess of Wales, and their three children watched the military parade at the Queen Victoria Memorial. Afterwards, the royals went to the Buckingham Palace balcony to greet the crowds gathered on the Mall and watch the military flypast.

The Royal Family also hosted a tea party for war veterans, their families and other members of the wartime generation in the palace gardens.

The 2025 VE Day commemorations are the first to take place without any of the royals who appeared on the balcony 80 years ago. In 1945, large crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace to catch a glimpse of King George VI, the Queen Mother, a young Queen Elizabeth II, and Princess Margaret.

On Monday, HMS Belfast hosted a private VE Day 80 anniversary event, followed by an "after-hours party" with drinks, music and special guests. The famous ship, now parked next to Tower Bridge, is the most significant surviving WW2 warship. It fired some of the opening shots on D-Day in 1944 and protected Arctic convoys during the war.

Street parties have also taken place up and down the country, with local communities encouraged to organise their own get-togethers to echo the celebrations from 80 years ago. Councils hosted events and some waived their usual road closure fee. Check your local council website to see what festivities are taking place in your area.

On Tuesday, the Tower of London opened an art installation of 30,000 ceramic poppies to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. The flowers originally featured in Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, an artwork created to mark the centenary of WW1 and included 888,246 poppies at the castle.

Royal Historic Palaces (RHP) said the new installation of poppies "will pour across the lawn overlooked by the ancient White Tower, where the blood-red flowers will form a crater, with ripples flowing outwards".

Visitors can see the poppies as part of a general admission ticket to the Tower of London, although a small part will be visible from the public footpath. The exhibition runs until Armistice Day on 11 November.

• Poppies pour across Tower of London to mark VE Day

On Tuesday evening, dozens of buildings across the UK were lit up for VE Day 80. These included Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament.

For those who lived through VE Day, celebrations are often remembered as a moment of light after years of blackouts and darkness during the war.

The BBC is commemorating VE Day with a variety of special programmes. Highlights on BBC One and BBC iPlayer have included special editions of Saturday Kitchen on 3 May (10:00 BST), Antiques Roadshow on 4 May (20:00 BST), The One Show on 5 May (18:30 BST), Who Do You Think You Are? on 6 May (21:00 BST) and EastEnders on 8 May (19:30 BST).

Online, BBC News is covering the celebrations with a range of reporting including live pages of the commemorations and a rich selection of video interviews with people who lived through the war.

There will also be live broadcasts of major events including:

Thursday 8 May - VE Day 80: The Nation Remembers (BBC One, 10:45 BST), a service of thanksgiving from Westminster Abbey presented by Sophie Raworth with commentary from Petroc Trelawny.

Thursday 8 May - VE Day 80: A Celebration to Remember (BBC One, 20:00 BST) a live concert from the Horse Guards Parade in London presented by Zoe Ball.

• To read more about what's happening across the BBC, click here.