Notting Hill Carnival dancers get second day of the festivities off to a colourful start

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Ella Wills27 August 2018

The Notting Hill Carnival has begun its second day of festivities in a vibrant display of colour and sparkle.

Carnival queens got celebrations under way wearing bright feather headbands and dazzling outfits as dancers prepared to welcome hundreds of thousands heading to west London on Monday.

Day two of the event began with sunny spells allowing dancers to wear their vibrant outfits uncovered by ponchos and rain coats.

Downpours blighted Family Day at the carnival on Sunday, with visitors forced to take shelter under umbrellas and wet weather gear.

Brazilian dancer Juliana Campos poses with a police officer as she prepares to take part in the Notting Hill Carnival
PA

Dancers were pictured posing alongside police officers, who made 133 arrests and recovered 16 knives during the first day of the Carnival.

Officers detained 42 people on drugs offences, 20 on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and seven on public order offences.

Dancers dressed in colourful costumes as day two of the festivities got under way
EPA

A further two people were arrested on suspicion of sexual offences, three for common assault and 12 on suspicion of possessing psychoactive drugs.

Police were operating with enhanced stop and search powers in a bid to crack down on violence.

Scotland Yard said it would also be imposing a Section 60 order across the carnival's geographical area between 9am and 11.59pm on Monday.

The Bank Holiday weekend event, which has been brought to London annually for more than 50 years, is expected to attract more than a million revellers to its floats, food stalls and music over the course of the two days.

Hundreds of thousands are expected to descend on west London this afternoon
AFP/Getty Images

A 72-second silence will be held at 3pm on both days of the carnival to remember those who died in the Grenfell Tower disaster, which happened close to the procession route.

The carnival is being policed by the highest number of officers in six years.

Almost 7,000 officers, some from the Metropolitan Police's newly formed Violent Crime Task Force, will be policing Monday's event to "combat the threat of violent crime".

This is up from the 6,100 on-duty officers at the less busy family day on Sunday.

Undercover police as well as officers from the force's firearms and dog units will be in place.

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