The UK has entered a 10-day period of mourning following the death on Thursday of Queen Elizabeth II.

This will culminate in a Bank Holiday on the day of the funeral, which has been designated a Day of National Mourning.

However, shops and other commercial establishments have not be told to close in the meantime, and schools have been advised to remain open.

Theatres are also expecting to continue with performances for the next 10 days, although some sporting fixtures have been cancelled and some tourist attractions, including London’s Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew have closed, at least for today.

The state funeral is widely expected to be held at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday, 19 September.

It will be the first state funeral held in the UK since the death of the war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965.

Until then, Queen Elizabeth will lie in state, first in Edinburgh, where she died, at St Giles’ Cathedral for 24 hours and later in Westminster Hall in London. Members of the public will be able to pay their respects, filing passed her coffin.

Operation London Bridge, which is the code-name for the Queen’s pre-arranged funeral plan, states that the her coffin will be taken to Westminster Abbey on a gun carriage, pulled by sailors using ropes.

The occasion will undoubtedly gather large crowds, from overseas as well as from the UK.

Later today, there is expected to be a gun salute in London’s Hyde Park and possibly some other locations around the country at midday. Church bells across the country are also likely to toll at midday.

Charles will formally be declared King and the day of his coronation, yet to be announced, will also be a national holiday.

In the meantime, the Government has confirmed that all British passports issued in the name of Her Majesty are still valid for travel, but new passports will contain the new wording of ‘His Majesty’.