Dr John Sentamu, 58, is jumping from 12,500ft for the Afghanistan Trust, a charity which raises money for soldiers killed or wounded while serving in that country.

His last planned tandem jump with the Red Devils display team late last month was called off due to heavy rain and thick, low cloud.

But the weather over Langar Airfield in Nottinghamshire, where the jump was due to take place, seemed good enough for the second attempt to go ahead, the Red Devils said.

The Archbishop will jump from 12,500ft and free-fall for 45 seconds. During the free fall he will be joined by two members of the Red Devils who will have orange smoke streaming from cannisters strapped to their legs.

At 5,000ft the Archbishop's parachute will open and it will take about five minutes before he lands back at the airfield.

Corporal Duncan Murray, spokesman for the Red Devils, said: "At the moment the conditions are just right so hopefully it will go ahead. There's hardly any wind and the cloud is scattered so we can see through it.

"The only difference with the jump (on Friday) with the Archbishop is that we are going to have two guys come and meet him in free fall with orange smoke. There's different smoke available but we think orange is the best one."

The jump will be a standard skydive for the Red Devils, which raises £100,000 a year for charity through tandem sky dives with members of the public.

Dr Sentamu said that he remained hopeful the jump would go ahead. He said: "I'm hoping that the sun will shine ... not only for the parachute jump but also for the anniversary of the D-Day landings in which so many brave servicemen and women gave their lives."