Company will burst clouds to keep wedding days rain-free for £100,000
Service uses ‘cloud seeding’ technology to force clouds to rain in advance of the big day
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A new service will charge £100,000 to use chemicals to keep rain from falling and ruining weddings.
The UK company, Oliver’s Travels, will offer the service for certain venues in France, and hopes to bring it to the UK eventually “if it takes off”.
The technology uses silver iodide to “seed” the clouds — the compound allows the water vapour in the clouds to condense, and then produces rain.
The company’s meteorologists and pilots will begin planning three weeks in advance of the wedding, forcing the clouds to rain so that the sky is clear by the time of the date.
“The cloud will be burst over a period of 24 hours,” the company says. “The project itself will take around 3 weeks all in all. It would take a week to get the airplane, pilot and meteorologist to France and back. The crew will need to be on the ground at least a week before the event.”
The company says that “cloud seeding is now considered a mainstream tool, primarily to improve rain precipitation and snow”. While that is somewhat true — it is often used in China, where it was put to work to try and keep rain from affecting the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony — experts disagree on how effective it can be.
But the company says that it can guarantee success, unless a natural disaster such as a hurricane happens.
It says that it will be initially run in select areas of France because there are certain rules in place. The company will only fly at least 30 kilometres from major airports, it said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments