We've just seen images of the Princess Royal arriving at Buckingham Palace ahead of the military procession.

Princess Anne took a moment to wave towards the crowds that have been gathered outside the Palace for several hours now.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

We're now getting some movement in central London as soldiers mounted on horses start to make their way towards Parliament Square for the start of the procession.

The Household Cavalry and the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, are leading the way slowly down the Mall flanked by people who have gathered either side of the road.

We are building up to the start of the procession which will begin after Big Ben chimes at midday.

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent, reporting from the Mall

Image source, Reuters

Outside Buckingham Palace, there's a feel of a great stage being prepared, getting ready for the event to begin.

The Royal Standard has gone up over the Palace and the balcony is draped with its red and gold covering. The Royal Family will be there later, having walked through what have been called the world's most famous net curtains.

There's a viewing platform built around the Queen Victoria Memorial, which will later be filled with dignitaries, but is already filling up with guests, who are wrapped up against the chilly weather.

They're watching horse artillery trotting past as they head to take part in the parade that's going to begin in Westminster.

We're less than an hour away from the chimes of Big Ben ringing out at midday, marking the start of today's VE Day commemoration.

A military procession will make its way from Parliament Square towards Buckingham Palace, and the people who have been gathering along the route since dawn are probably feeling quite smug, as the crowds are now quite large, as you can see below:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Thirty one World War Two veterans are expected to attend the VE Day commemorations taking place today and 26 of them will be taking in the sights of the military procession getting under way in under an hour.

Among the group will be Henry Ducker, who at 104 years old, will be the oldest veteran in attendance.

Ducker will also attend a tea party that the King and Queen are hosting at Buckingham Palace later this afternoon, which will be attended by other veterans, their families and members of the wartime generation.

In the lead up to VE Day at 80, the BBC has been collecting first-hand accounts of World War Two, which you can read more about in our We Were There project.

Mallory Moench
Reporting from the Mall

Meanwhile, back at the Mall, I've just finished catching up with Grace Gothard, from Mitcham, and Satvinder Cubb, from Chingford.

They're both donning hand-stitched outfits today. Gothard wears a union jack dress draped in a flag from Ghana, while Cubb is wearing a frock made from two "Lest we forget" scarves.

They both wanted to be here today to remember all the people "who fought for us", as the last generation of World War Two veterans are growing older, Cubb says.

For her, the message of VE Day is to bring together people from different countries and different age groups to say: "Why don’t we unite together? Why can’t there be peace?"

"We are humans. We should all be one."

We'll be bringing you all the updates from today's national procession here in London, but events are also taking place across the UK.

That, of course, means bunting and Victoria sponge cakes aplenty.

Here's a quick glance at some of the unique ways the country's regions are marking 80 years since fighting ended in Europe.

Image source, Dunchurch Festival Group

Image source, Peterborough City Council

Image source, Mark Carter

Mallory Moench
Reporting from London

To celebrate the start of VE Day at 80, Transport for London employee Claire Snelling at Green Park station isn't holding back.

She is wearing a giant red, white and blue hair bow that she purchased for the Queen’s Jubilee, a bedazzled union jack bow tie, a poppy and TfL pins which line her lanyard.

A bit earlier, Snelling was stopped by a female passenger who wanted to take a selfie with her.

"I thought I’d come in early before the madness starts," the woman says.

"But it’ll be a nice mad," Snelling smiles.

Snelling says she’s known around the station for dressing up for St Patrick’s Day, Christmas, and other holidays.

"She’s a bit of a celebrity," her colleague beside her jokes.

Snelling says she has no idea how many people will pass through the station nearest the procession today, but even though it’ll be busy, "it’s just fun, it’ll be a nice atmosphere".

Image source, Getty Images

We're only a couple hours out from a military procession starting in central London to commemorate VE Day at 80.

Here are the key details for how to follow along:

Timings

We have a full set of key timings for you to set your watch by, but here's a quick summary of the day's events:

• 12:00 BST: events will begin with actor Timothy Spall reading part of Winston Churchill's VE Day broadcast, and then a military procession will make its way from Parliament Square over to Buckingham Palace
• 13:45 BST: The King and Queen will watch a flypast of current and historic military aircraft over Buckingham Palace

The procession route

After starting out in Parliament Square, the procession will head towards Whitehall, where it will pass by the Cenotaph.

It will then turn up towards the Mall at Trafalgar Square, before finishing at Buckingham Palace.

Weather

According to our BBC Weather team, it will be a mostly cloudy day in London, with temperatures ranging from around 7C to 15C in the afternoon.

Brollies might be required for those on the Mall, but a possible small shower isn't expected to affect the military flypast.

How to follow along

We'll of course have all the cheers and key moments right here, but you can also follow along by pushing watch live at the top of the page, or you can tune in to our special VE Day at 80 coverage on BBC One.

Mallory Moench
Reporting from The Mall

Maria and Chris Naynor tell me they left their home in Reading at 05:30 BST to secure a front-row spot along the Mall to watch today's procession.

By 08:00 BST, the pair, plus their son, three grandsons, and daughter-in-law and members of her family - a total of nine, plus Border Terrier Aela - had set up shop on blankets and folding chairs by the fence lining the street.

The family came prepared with Tupperwares of food, cream tea, and gin and tonics.

For the family, VE Day is personal. Chris’s dad served in the Armed Forces and was wounded in Dunkirk, and his mother was out celebrating on the streets of London on the original VE Day on 8 May 1945.

Their daughter-in-law’s grandfather also served in the military.

It's critical to remember "all the people who gave their lives for freedom" and teach the kids about it, Maria says.

Sadly, she adds, with another war on the European continent now, "not a lot has changed".

"People are still being killed."

Theo, 11, Harry, 9, and Charlie, 6, tell me they know exactly why they're gathered here today.

"So that we can remember all the people who died in the war," Harry says.

Gem O'Reilly
Reporting from The Mall

Like many of the people who are gathered at the Mall right now, I’ve also been here since about 06:00 BST.

The atmosphere is one of anticipation at the moment. People have travelled far and wide to experience the start of four days of commemorating VE Day at 80.

One woman tells me she's been here since 02:00 BST and had breakfast delivered to her on the Mall; a young man, who's come here straight from a night out, says he stayed up all night to be here.

The excitement is building and the flags - many of them - are at the ready.

Image source, PA Media

As we just mentioned, it's not long until events officially kick off in central London and the Mall is continuing to fill with spectators.

One woman, Susan, tells BBC Radio 5 Live that she arrived at 06:00 BST to secure her spot.

"It makes me really emotional, especially seeing the Ukrainian troops here," she says. "I even cried seeing that on TV earlier."

"We don’t understand how lucky we are in this country when so many countries don’t have peace."

Mandy, meanwhile, says she decided to head down to the Mall bright and early in order to take in the sights and sounds.

"I know you can watch it on the TV but there’s nothing like the atmosphere being here," she explains.

No stranger to celebrating national events, Mandy has even brought her homemade Union Jack hat along, which she says has been worn to every celebration since Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee in 2002.

Ashitha Nagesh
Reporting from the Mall

Today's VE Day ceremony isn’t getting under way for a few more hours, but the Mall is already packed with people.

Their commitment is going to pay off.

Since these spectators fought the urge to hit snooze on their alarms, they have now secured some of the best positions along the procession route for when it passes through here just after midday.

A lot of people have also brought portable chairs, which seems like an excellent idea.

Ukrainian troops will be among those taking part in today's military procession and some of those soldiers caught up with the Today programme before they had to make their way over to the Mall.

Capt Hannah describes it as an "honour" to take part in VE Day at 80, while Maj Paul says the anniversary "reminds us how precious peace is and how important it is to protect it".

Both have asked to be identified with just their first names.

Paul explains that today we'll see the Ukrainian representatives take part in a separate formation during the procession. You'll be able to pick them out of the crowd, he says, as they'll be the ones carrying a Ukrainian flag.

Ukrainian troops - as seen below - have been participating in the overnight rehearsals that have been taking place in the lead up to today's procession.

Image source, Getty Images

We're now just a few hours away from the military procession starting to make its way from Parliament Square towards Buckingham Palace as part of today's VE Day commemorations.

That will be getting under way at 12:10 BST (more of today's key timings can be found in our earlier post), and you can expect to see more than 1,300 armed forces taking part.

Here's a map showing the route of the procession and where it's taking place in central London:

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

Image source, Getty Images / Imperial War Museum

Until 2011, weather forecasts and the Met Office were under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence.

They didn’t want the Germans to know what the weather was going to be and how that might influence British aircraft operations.

Farmers were still dependent on weather forecasts. But the Ministry of Defence didn’t want the Luftwaffe to know where our good crops were, which would make it easier for them to target.

So instead, farmers would dial-in and receive coded weather forecasts from the BBC.

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

The weather for most of the UK today is going to be fine and dry with the best of the sunshine expected across Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and western England.

While cloudier in Lincolnshire and East Anglia, it will turn sunnier here this afternoon too.

Otherwise, there’s a fair amount of cloud today with risk of some showers, especially in south-east England, particularly Kent and East Sussex where a heavier downpour could pass through.

Feeling a little chilly in the east with a north-easterly wind and temperatures of 11-13C.

Warmer further west with temperatures around 13-16C.

Ashitha Nagesh
Reporting from the Mall

Let's take you back to a little bit earlier, when rehearsals for today's procession were getting under way - in near complete darkness.

Lt Col Charles Foinette is the Brigade Major of the Household Division - which means he oversees public duties and state ceremonial activity. He and his horse, Percy, will be leading regiments in today’s parade.

He tells me that there has been "quite a lot of preparation" put into this year's parade, including "properly tailored" uniforms and lots of practising of foot and rifle drills.

There's been several rehearsals throughout the weekend, and if you'd visited Green Park in the early hours on Saturday, you might have seen regiments rehearsing along the real route.

“I got on my horse at about 02:00 and got off him again at somewhere around 05:00,” Lt Col Foinette recalls.

Rehearsals are important for such big ceremonies, he points out, "but until you actually get on the ground itself it’s quite hard to visualise where you need to be marching".

Image source, Getty Images

Let's bring you the latest images from central London, where we are now seeing the Cenotaph on Whitehall being dressed in two Union Flags.

The final touches are being made ahead of today's VE Day procession - which will be getting under way later this afternoon.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

We've been hearing from some of the people who were there when fighting in Europe ended in May 1945, but the war continued for a few months longer in parts of Asia-Pacific as allied forces kept confronting the Japanese military.

Japan was given a deadline of 26 July to surrender, but did not meet it. The United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August.

Around 214,000 people were killed in the blasts, and thousands more died from radiation sickness in the months and years that followed.

Japan's Emperor Hirohito conceded defeat in a radio announcement on 15 August.

Then British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, who had taken over from Winston Churchill a few weeks earlier, announced two days of national holiday to mark Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day).

A service will take place at the National Memorial Arboretum on 15 August this year to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.

Image source, Getty Images