A traffic warning has been issued ahead of a concert at Heaton Park to commemorate the Battle of the Somme .

Thousands of people are expected at the evening of remembrance on Friday - 100 years on from the start of one of the bloodiest battles in military history.

A parade and service will also be held in Manchester city centre earlier in the day.

The Somme offensive lasted for 141 days from July 1, 1916. In total, 420,000 British soldiers were killed.

Highways bosses have urged drivers using motorways to commute into the city centre and to Heaton Park to plan journeys in advance or consider using trains or trams.

The event at Heaton Park is the national commemoration and a huge turnout is expected.

Highways England said the city centre would be affected by extra traffic and temporary road closures. Electronic signs on the M60 are already displaying traffic warnings.

Chris Chadwick, Highways England’s events planning manager, said: “It’s unusual to have an event of this size and importance in the city centre on a weekday and we are advising commuters to plan their journeys into and out of Manchester city centre next Friday very carefully.”

A series of events across the city will be held to remember and honour soldiers who fought and died. The Somme’s first day remains the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army.

Events on Friday start at 1pm with a military march, live band music and a two minute silence heralded by the Last Post at the Cenotaph in St Peter’s Square and led by the Bishop of Manchester.

At 1.30pm a parade involving serving military personnel and regimental associations will make its way from Albert Square to the cathedral . The 3pm service will be shown on a large screen at Albert Square.

Later that evening, a remembrance walk to Heaton Park will take place. The concert there starts at 7.30pm, although gates open at 4pm.

(Image: Andrew Stuart)

A parade of 270 children will walk a tiled ‘Path of the Remembered’ singing traditional soldier’s songs. It will be followed by a huge dance piece inspired by the Pals Battalions which were trained in Heaton Park at 8.30pm.

Manchester’s Halle Orchestra , conducted by Sir Mark Elder, will perform alongside an international children’s choir and a dance troupe of hundreds.

At sunset at around 9.30pm, poet Lemn Sissay will read a specially-commissioned piece dedicated to the memories of the lives lost and changed forever by trench warfare.

Transport for Greater Manchester said diversion routes in the city centre would be signposted and buses could also be hit by delays.

No cross-city Metrolink trams will run.

At 7.28am on Friday, the UK will hold a two-minute silence to mark the moment the first wave of soldiers went ‘over the top’ of Western Front trenches during the battle.