It's not the storied London fog that worries the girls from Sacred Hearts Academy's marching band, which will perform in that city's prestigious New Year's Day parade.

It's the London cold and rain.

"We usually perform in aloha shirts and skirts, but when I went to England in June to accept our invitation they made a point of telling us the temperatures will be between 30 and 40 degrees when we perform," said Matthew Martin, Sacred Hearts' band director. "We need to buy warmer uniforms and take care of the girls."

The all-girl Catholic school, with an enrollment of about 1,100 students from preschool through 12th grade, is home to the largest all-girl marching band in the United States. They'll be only the second all-female marching band to peform in the parade's 23-year history.

Its organizers call it the largest New Year's Day parade in the world, with a half-million people lining the 2.2-mile route and 200 million more watching on TV.

"This is such a huge honor for us to represent not only our community and school, but the entire state and the United States," Martin said. "We've been planning this trip since last October when they first contacted us wanting to know if we'd be interested in performing."

The last time the Sacred Hearts marching band traveled was in 2005, and that was to sunny Orlando, Fla., Martin said.

A London parade scout saw them in the Aloha Festivals Parade and contacted Martin in October 2007. In June, he and his wife were in England accepted the official invitation from Chancellor Robert Davis, the queen's deputy lieutenant and former Lord Mayor of Westminster.

"When we were there it was beautiful," Martin said. "The weather will be gray and rainy this time around."

The marching band has 140 musicians, eight color guard and 12 dancers. A total of 222 people will make the 16-hour flight to England, Martin said. The students have been fundraising for nearly a year to pay for the trip package, which will cost about $3,250 a person, he said.

One-third of the group will leave Dec. 26 and the rest will leave Dec. 27. All will stay until Jan. 3, with the concert band performing in St. Augustine's Church on Dec. 29 and the marching band performing on New Year's Day.

In the parade's history, the only other all-female band was from Japan. Twenty-two other marching bands from the U.S. will participate this time.

"We've got plenty planned for this trip to keep busy," Martin said. "We've got tours set up of Stonehenge, the Roman Baths and a few other places. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience."