As we've been reporting, world leaders have been taking part in several events to commemorate D-Day, as this year marks the 80th anniversary of Allied troops' landing in German-occupied France in 1944.

French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and the SNP's deputy leader Keith Brown could all be seen in attendance at remembrance events throughout the day.

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Katya Adler
Europe editor, reporting from Normandy

Image source, Marianne Baisnee/BBC

D-Day events marking the contribution of French men and women who worked for the French Resistance seem somewhat muted, compared to the boisterous array of events commemorating Allied soldiers.

“I don’t forget them. Please don’t forget them,” urges Catherine Nivromont, an elegant, spritely 81-year-old, as she leans forward, intently, in her chair.

Catherine’s brother Pierre was just 17 in 1944. He worked alongside other Resistance members, gathering intelligence on German positions along the Normandy coast, to help Allied forces plan their June assault.

Pierre was in touch with locals who did German soldiers’ laundry. Their clothing was marked with battalion details, revealing the quantity and location of troops.

“Each person played their small part. Under occupation, you had to resist silently. Secretly. You never knew who you could trust.”

Image source, Marianne Baisnee

Catherine’s dad Robert, who was also in the Resistance, along with Pierre, were eventually betrayed by a Frenchman they’d relied on to help make fake passports for Allied airmen stuck behind enemy lines.

Both men were sent to concentration camps. Her brother to Buchenwald. Her father, to Auschwitz.

“I think his homeland was more important to him than family,” Catherine observes a little sadly. “The risks he took were huge.”

But you’re proud of him, I ask. “Oh yes. So proud. That is why I see it as my job to still visit schools and universities. To tell the youth what the Resistance did. And how much they sacrificed for us.”

It’s thought only 2% of French citizens worked full time for the Resistance, though they relied on a far broader network of people willing to help.

For such a small group, they’ve had a big influence on modern-day France too.

Many in the Resistance were left-leaning. A large proportion, communist. After the war, they helped set up the new French Republic, implementing France’s strong welfare and health system which is still firmly in place today.

Before she gave a reading at the commemorations in Bayeux, Princess Anne spent some time speaking to veterans at the Royal British Legion Service of Commemoration at Bayeux War Ceremony.

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Princess Anne has been giving a reading at the Royal British Legion Service of Commemoration in Bayeux.

She's reading the poem At the British War Cemetery, Bayeux, by Charles Causley.

It was written by the poet after he visited the Bayeux War Cemetery - where many of those who died during World War Two are buried.

The poem describes Causley's shock as he sees the sheer number of gravestones, and the age of those who died.

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Tomorrow, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, promises to be another big day of ceremonies.

The commemorations will start in Normandy, France, at around 07:25 local time (05:25 GMT) - the exact time beach landings began in 1944.

The official British commemoration will take place at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, where King Charles will join Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Canadians will also host a ceremony at Juno Beach, while the French will have a ceremony at Omaha beach later in the day, which will be hosted by more than 25 heads of state - including King Charles and US President Joe Biden.

Victoria Bourne
Reporting from Arromanches

More than 100 choristers have gathered on the esplanade overlooking Mulberry harbour on Gold Beach in Arromanches, in north-west France.

The jetty was only meant to be temporary, but it is still present here, a clear reminder of the town's role in the Normandy campaign.

The choir is a striking sight, all the choristers dressed in white and wearing co-ordinating red scarves in front of turquoise waters.

It has created a special programme of songs to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, drawing quite a large crowd with many spectators singing along.

Whilst my French isn't good enough to understand the lyrics, a local woman kindly tells me the theme of the music is liberty.

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

The D-Day commemorations seem to get bigger as the numbers of those who remember events first-hand get smaller.

These 80th anniversary events are a huge international project, with pictures of tributes to veterans being sent around the world.

Growing up in Portsmouth, when there were still many people who had their own memories of D-Day, for many years the main memorial was a very simple inscribed stone.

It was placed not far from South Parade Pier, which in 1944 had been used by troops embarking on ships for Normandy.

The inscribed stone had been unveiled when memories were still very fresh, four years after D-Day in June 1948, by Field Marshal Montgomery, commander of the Allied forces on D-Day.

It was a small, plain, understated stone, made to look like the concrete blocks that had been put along the coast to stop the tanks of any Nazi invasion - it probably wasn’t even noticed by holidaymakers in the subsequent years.

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But commemorations have grown.

On the 40th anniversary, a D-Day museum opened in Southsea, and for the 50th anniversary in 1994, there were major events with attendance of the late Queen Elizabeth, then-US president Bill Clinton and French president Francois Mitterrand among those coming to Portsmouth to honour the memory of D-Day.

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took a step back from the election campaign trail and met with D-Day veterans, at a reception held after this morning's commemorations in Portsmouth.

"It is a very special day, you have a lot to be proud of," he tells them.

Doris Lacy, 98, who served in the Women's Royal Naval Service says it was "absolutely shocking" to speak to the prime minister.

"I found it such a pleasant surprise," she says.

Asked about the event held earlier in the day on Southsea Common, Ms Lacy says she enjoyed "bringing it all back again in my memory".

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French President Emmanuel Macron, who paid tribute to French resistance fighters in Brittany earlier today, has arrived at a ceremony in Saint-Lô, Normandy.

The town was almost entirely destroyed by Allied bombardments as part of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.

Macron is expected to pay tribute to the civilians that were killed there.

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The D-Day landings saw troops from the UK, US, Canada and France attacking German forces in Normandy, northern France, during World War Two.

When did it happen?

The mission was originally set to start on 5 June 1944 - the day judged to have ideal conditions for crossing the channel - but had to be delayed by 24 hours, to 6 June because of storms.

What happened?

A total of 156,000 soldiers were sent to attack five beaches in Normandy.

A deception plan in the weeks beforehand led the Germans to expect the main invasion further along the coast - this element of surprise helped British troops establish a foothold on a beach codenamed Gold.

By midnight, troops on four of the five beaches had managed to push further inland.

On D-Day alone, as many as 4,400 Allied soldiers died, and around 9,000 were wounded or went missing.

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Why is it so significant?

It was the largest seaborne invasion ever attempted, and marked the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe.

While progress through the narrow lanes and staunchly defended towns of Normandy was slow, Allied soldiers now outnumbered their enemy, and were supported by their superiority in the skies.

By late August of that year, the Allies would liberate Paris.

You can read more about D-Day and its impact on the war here.

Victoria Bourne
Reporting from Arromanches

I’m in the small seaside town of Arromanches, which was one of the first French towns to be liberated by British troops on D-Day.

In the square here I met Brigadier Mike Caldicott CBE, who is head of logistics transformation at the Ministry of Defence.

He had a rather special trip to France with the former Top Gear presenter, Richard Hammond - they drove the newly restored Rolls-Royce that belonged to Field Marshal Montgomery, who was commander of the Allied forces involved in Normandy.

Brigadier Mike Caldicott and Richard Hammond were determined to reunite the car with veterans and the French people.

"This is a very significant vehicle," he tells me, it "was hand-picked by Winston Churchill to be used by Field Marshall Montgomery as swiftly as possible after D-Day so that it built confidence in the Allied forces and gave a sense of victory and permanency - to the French people as well as our own troops.

"The car was brought over Juno Beach, three days after D-Day, 80 years ago," he says.

Despite it being a vintage motor, the pair had a smooth journey across the Channel, and Brigadier Caldicott says it ran like a dream.

"It's magic. She runs like a Rolls-Royce and because of her presence, and what she stands for, it's really quite emotional," he says.

The Royal Family were out in force today to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and to thank surviving veterans.

King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales were at the UK's service in Portsmouth, while Princess Anne attended an event in Normandy, France.

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Princess Anne has been attending the unveiling of a statue of a World War Two Canadian Royal Regina Rifleman in Normandy as part of D-Day commemorations.

The statue was officially unveiled at Place des Canadiens in Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse, where the princess joined both British and Canadian military veterans for the ceremony.

Image source, Reuters

Hugh Schofield
Reporting from Sannerville

Here's one thing they didn’t have to face on D-day - British paratroopers going through French passport control after parachuting into Sannerville near Caen.

Here's the moment paratroopers from the British, Belgian, Canadian and US military jump from their plane over Normandy fields:

Hugh Schofield
Reporting from Sannerville

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In a maize field east of Caen, north-west France, purple berets bob up and down in the vegetation.

These are soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade, who have just parachuted from A-400M Atlas troop-carriers, flying at around 1,000 feet (305 metres).

They're now gathering in their parachutes and heading to the assembly point.

The drop zone outside the village of Sannerville is small, so with each pass of the planes only 10 or so paratroopers can jump.

Eighty years ago it was night-time and the sky was filled with hundreds of British soldiers from the 6th Airborne Division.

Their task was to secure the eastern perimeter of the Normandy landings, to destroy bridges over the rivers Orne and Dives and the Orne Canal, and to hamper any German counter-attack.

At the western end of the front, US paratroopers had a similar mission. All tasks were eventually accomplished, but at great cost in lives.

Today’s members of 16 Air Assault Brigade still wear the Pegasus wings immortalised by their forebears.

We've just had these photos of paratroopers landing near a Normandy drop zone used on D-Day 80 years ago.

More than 300 members of the British, Belgian, Canadian and US military are taking part in the parachute jump display near Sannerville, France, which was a designated drop on 6 June 1944.

It commemorates the role of the airborne forces during the Normandy landings.

Take a look:

Image source, Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire

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Among those jumping was Lieutenant Max Phillips, whose great-great-uncle Major William Tighe-Woods landed on Sword Beach on D-Day.

Ed Sault
Reporting from Portsmouth

A little earlier, the site here in Southsea came to life as service personnel, members of the public, children and veterans all gathered in the June sunshine.

There was a sea of red, white and blue flags, hats and smiles. The crowd was full of sons, daughters and grandchildren with medals of their loved ones who are no longer with us, all proudly on display.

The audience were reminded of the D-Day story and the vital role played by cities and towns along the south coast of England, including here in Portsmouth.

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People rose to their feet when Prince William addressed the crowd.

Reporters from around the world are here, including those from Australia, New Zealand, France and Switzerland who are in the media tower with us.

When veterans addressed the audience here and the millions more watching at home, everyone rose to their feet.

Locals in Portsmouth told me how proud they were of those who went before them and the important part this part of the south coast played on D-Day.

Speaking in Portsmouth, King Charles gave a heartfelt and moving speech to mark the 80th anniversary of the "largest military fleet the world has ever known".

"It is our privilege to hear their testimony, but our role is not purely passive.

"It is our duty to ensure that we, and future generations, do not forget their service and their sacrifice in replacing tyranny with freedom," King Charles added.

Daniela Relph and Michaela Howard
Royal correspondent, at the Bayeux War Cemetery

The shape of each grave tells its own story. Each headstone is shaped differently according to what country the fallen soldier is from.

The curved top of a headstone marks a British death.

A pointed headstone is a Polish grave.

The ones with staggered edges are Soviet headstones.

A simple visual that immediately shows the international loss of life on D-Day and throughout the war. But perhaps, most moving of all, are the graves without a name for those who died but were never identified.

The inscription on those graves reads simply:

"A soldier of the

1939-1945 War

Known unto God"