UK observes two-minute silence and wreath-laying ceremonies on Armistice Day

The United Kingdom observed a two-minute silence at 11:00 a.m. on Armistice Day, commemorating the 1918 cease-fire that ended World War One. A national remembrance service was held at the Cenotaph in London, where Defence Secretary Wes Streeting laid a wreath alongside senior military figures, children and cadets. Similar ceremonies took place in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In Staffordshire, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester laid a wreath at the Royal British Legion National Remembrance Gardens, while hundreds gathered at the Armed Forces memorial in the former National Memorial Arboretum. Among the veterans present was 101-year-old Geoffrey Spencer, who served in the RAF during World War Two and recounted surviving a crash landing and a mission in which a plane carrying 22 men was lost.

Representatives of more recent conflicts, from the Falklands to Afghanistan, also attended the events. Later, during Prime Minister's Questions, Andy Burnham paid tribute to "all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country" and praised the "courage and bravery of all our Armed Forces".

Additional commemorations included wreath-laying at the Portsmouth World War One Memorial, a gathering at the Tommy statue in Dover, and services at the Victoria Gardens War Memorial in Leeds. In Scotland, the one-o’clock gun at Edinburgh Castle fired at 11:00, and ceremonies were held at the Scottish National War Memorial and Glasgow's George Square. In Conwy, north Wales, school pupils read the names of the fallen in the town square, with Mayor Sian Grady noting that remembrance remains relevant today.

A special railway journey, dubbed "Poppies to Paddington," travelled from Penzance to London, stopping at stations along the route to echo the historic movements of soldiers heading to the front line.