England fans will be flocking to their local pubs to watch the crunch match (Image: Getty)
England fans will be able to stay in the pub until after Saturday night’s crunch World Cup quarter final with Norway is over, the Government has said. Extended licensing hours mean that pubs in England and Wales can remain open until 30 minutes after the final whistle is blown, even if the start of the game is delayed because of extreme heat.
England will play Norway at 10pm UK time on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Ministers had already pushed the opening hours for the game until 2am, but have granted an additional extension under flexible licensing laws. The crucial match comes after Miami was hit by a tropical thunderstorm late on Friday, with local hotels suffering power outages.
Thunderstorms are forecast to hit Miami at around kick off time (Image: Javier Garcia/Shutterstock)
Footage from the scene in Florida shows a tree branch falling onto a car while the area is battered by heavy rain and lightning strikes in the sky.
The clash against Erling Haaland‘s Norway is due to kick off at 10pm UK time, but a US meteorologist has warned that more lightning could derail that – even after the thunderstorms have passed.
This raises the prospect that the start of the World Cup quarter-final clash could be delayed or temporarily stopped midway through, meaning it could finish much later.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Chad Merill said thunderstorms are “likely” near Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium around the time of the game.
He told Sun Sport: “Right now we’ve got in Florida a sea breeze type of setup where you get these afternoon showers and thunderstorms that come off the Atlantic.
Saturday’s game could be postponed. (Image: Getty)
“And for Miami itself, they get thunderstorms during this time of the year that typically happen in the afternoon.
“The sea breeze comes in, generates showers and thunderstorms, those thunderstorms continue to move west, and occasionally they dump some heavy rain and possibly some gusty winds.
“It’ll come in during the morning, and then during the midday to early afternoon there will be a couple of thunderstorms in the Miami area. Those thunderstorms can produce a lot of lightning in Florida and brief heavy downpours.
“Then by the later part of the afternoon, those thunderstorms will push west closer and farther into the peninsula.
“It’s that time frame from midday through the early part of the afternoon where there will likely be some thunderstorms and lightning nearby for the match.”