What next for the Tower poppies?

Part of the installation will go on tour before going on permanent display at the IWM Credit: Isabel Infantes/EMPICS

The sea of crimson that now surrounds the Tower of London has attracted four million visitors since July. It's a display of contemporary art which has proved so popular that, thanks to government funding, means parts of it will be seen across the country.

  • The "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" will be completed tomorrow when the last poppy is planted immediately before the 2 minute silence begins at 11am.

  • Less than 24 hours later a team of volunteers will begin manually removing each poppy, a task set to take around 2 weeks.

  • These symbols of individual lives will then be cleaned, packaged and distributed to the hundreds of thousands of people in the UK and abroad who bought one.

  • The installation will be gone by the end of November, when the "wave" is dismantled.

  • Initially there were no further plans, however, over the last week, two charities - the Back Stage Trust, and Clore Duffield Foundation - have bought the wave and the weeping window.

  • Thanks to the backing of the government, the two structures will be displayed around the country from 2015 to 2018.

  • Then, this artwork will endure as a permanent exhibit at the Imperial War Musuem from 2019.