THE RAILWAY
Foil meets 25,000 volts
In 2021 a foil balloon tangled in Manchester's 25,000-volt overhead wires. Engineers had to switch off the power and close the line to remove it.
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WHAT THE SOURCES SAY
What goes up
comes down.
A balloon that floats away has to land somewhere.
Railway wires, fields and the sea all catch them. UK government, councils and Network Rail come back to one simple habit: keep hold of the string, and think before any release.
600+ rail incidents in 10 years
Check a release- Keep hold of the string
- Away from the railway
- Ask before a release
- Fun indoors, careful outside
THE SHORT ANSWER
Keep hold,
then pop it at home.
A released balloon is still litter.
Where it lands decides the damage.
THE COUNTRYSIDE
Fields and livestock
A 2013 Defra study judged the risk to cattle low, but it raised concerns about animals swallowing balloons, and farmers' worries continue.
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THE RULES
Councils can say no
No law bans balloon releases outright, but every council in Wales has banned them on its land and numerous English councils have acted too.
Check a release
FOUR HABITS TO TRY
Balloons that stay
where you put them.
None of these spoils the fun. They simply keep the balloon at the party and out of the wires, fields and sea.
Tie every balloon down
Fix helium balloons to a weight or a chair, and keep a hand on the string when you carry them outside.
Give the railway a wide berth
Network Rail's plea is simple: keep helium balloons away from the railway and its overhead wires.
Ask before a release
Check the venue or council first. Some councils add a no-release condition to event licences on their land.
Pop and bin at the end
When the party is over, deflate balloons and put them in the bin so none drift off later.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Balloons travel,
and helium is finite.
One figure from the railway,
one on where helium comes from.
600+
Balloon-related incidents over 10 years
Network Rail says it has recorded more than 600 balloon-related incidents across England, Scotland and Wales over 10 years, causing dozens of train delays each year.
RAILWAY · NETWORK RAIL
up to 7%
Most helium in natural gas
The Royal Society of Chemistry says the main source of helium is natural gas, which can contain up to 7% helium. Extracting it from air, at about 5 parts per million, is uneconomical.
HELIUM · RSC
Helium is also used to make fibre optics and semiconductors, for arc welding and to find leaks, so a balloon's worth of gas is not just party air.
A QUICK RELEASE CHECK
Where is the balloon
going today?
Pick a situation to see what UK sources say. The bar shows how strongly they point to keeping the balloon on the ground.
Based on Network Rail, a Defra-commissioned study and a 2019 council report. Rules on council land vary by area.
SKY LANTERNS TOO
The same question,
with a flame.
Sky lanterns are small paper hot-air balloons with a fire underneath. The Defra-commissioned study found the main concern was fire, and several large fires have been blamed on them.
Civil Aviation Authority guidance says sky lanterns should not be released within 10 nautical miles of an airfield, and coastal rescue services have warned that lanterns can be mistaken for distress flares.
Questions
Questions people ask
Is it illegal to release balloons in the UK?
There is no law specifically banning balloon or sky lantern releases. Councils can restrict them on their own land through event licence conditions, byelaws or, where justified, a Public Spaces Protection Order.
Why are foil balloons a problem near railways?
Foil balloons can tangle in the 25,000-volt overhead wires that power trains. Engineers may have to switch off the electricity and close the line to remove them safely.
Do balloons harm farm animals?
A 2013 study commissioned by Defra and the Welsh Government judged the risk of injury and death to cattle as low, but raised concerns about animals swallowing balloons. Defra says it keeps working with farmers on their concerns.
Where does party helium come from?
Mostly from natural gas, which can contain up to 7% helium, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Getting it from the air is uneconomical because air holds only about 5 parts per million.
Have any councils banned balloon releases?
A 2019 Gedling Borough Council report noted that all local authorities in Wales had banned sky lanterns and helium balloons, and many English councils had taken action suited to their area.
Sources
- Network Rail: Float-away helium balloon delays trains in Manchester (2021)
- UK Parliament petitions: Ban balloon and sky lantern releases, with Defra response (2017)
- Gedling Borough Council: Release of sky lanterns and helium balloons, cabinet report (2019)
- Royal Society of Chemistry periodic table: Helium
Updated