Heavy showers yesterday morning marred the traditional Easter Sunday processions around Malta and Gozo, forcing some localities to cancel the religious celebrations altogether.

The parishes of Żejtun, Naxxar, Rabat, St George parish in Qormi, Cospicua and Victoria, among others, cancelled the processions because of the heavy rainfall that hit the islands.

Żejtun archpriest Fr Eric Overend said it was disappointing that they had to cancel and admitted that it was a “hard” decision to make.

“When we saw what the weather was like, I discussed the matter with the band clubs and we decided to cancel the procession. It wasn’t easy but everyone accepted it,” he said.

With a papier mâché statue, it was a risk the parish could not take even if it was very disappointing to have to cancel, especially after all the work and preparation that went into preparing for the procession.

The Easter Sunday procession is highly anticipated and, in many localities, is a triumphal walk – and sometimes run – with parishioners carrying the statue of Christ the King in the main roads of the village and children taking their Easter eggs and figolli to be blessed.

Other localities, such as Paola and St Sebastian parish in Qormi, opted to shorten the rote of the procession and others, such as Mosta, decided to postpone the procession by a few hours.