Mourners lining the streets of London were greeted with a “poignant” rainbow over Westminster on Sunday evening as the Queen’s lying in state came to a close.

Westminster Hall opened to the public at 5pm on Wednesday, September 14, allowing hundreds of thousands of members of the public to pay their respects to the Queen as she lay in state.

Mourners lined pathways around the Thames for days for their chance to say goodbye to Her Majesty.

The official queue ended on Sunday night in order to meet the 6:30am closure of the lying in state period.

However, crowds remained even after the doors closed, and were greeted by a rainbow over Westminster Abbey, where hours later the Queen will be laid to her final rest on Monday.

On September 8, the day of the Queen’s passing, a rainbow also appeared above Windsor Castle that was visible as the monarch’s death was announced to mourners that had gathered.

Robert Green, 48, a real estate business owner from London, was visiting Westminster with his family and witnessed the rainbow – which he said lasted three minutes from 6:54pm.

“The atmosphere was incredible,” Mr Green told the PA news agency.

“I wanted to experience the event with my family and to see the amazing numbers of people, from all over the world, gathering around Westminster and still queuing to see the Queen lying in state.

“The light had been building up gradually over the afternoon and it was even more spectacular with the dark clouds, creating wonderful contrast with the orange and red hues of the sunset.

“None of us expected the rainbow though so we were pleasantly shocked to see it, especially as it arced perfectly over Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster.

“It seemed to end right in the centre of Westminster Hall roof – very poignant and quite moving really.”

When is the Queen’s funeral?

The Queen’s funeral will take place this morning at 11am in Westminster Abbey.

A national two-minute silence will follow the Last Post being sounded at 11.55am.

Reveille, the national anthem and a lament, played by the Queen’s Piper, will bring the state funeral service to an end at approximately 12pm.

Following this, a televised committal service will take place in St George’s Chapel at 4pm.

At 7pm, there will be a private interment service with senior members of the royal family.

How to watch the Queen’s funeral

The Queen’s funeral will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC News, and be available on BBC iPlayer. Coverage will start at 8am.

It will also be shown on Sky News and ITV will also be showing the funeral across all of its channels.

The Queen’s funeral will also be streamed online. Sky News will be airing the sombre occasion which can be viewed on its website or YouTube account.

The BBC will also be streaming its coverage online.