UK weather: Leeds Festival forced to close second-largest stage as Storm Lilian hits

22 August 2024, 21:30 | Updated: 23 August 2024, 15:52

Parts of the UK are facing power cuts and widespread travel disruption thanks to Storm Lilian – with high winds forcing Leeds Festival organisers to shut three stages, including its second-largest area.

The storm surged across Wales and England this morning and left more than 60,000 homes across the north of England without power or facing supply issues.

As strong winds hit Leeds Festival, organisers urged people camping to "stay in your tents if you are onsite and feel safe to do so".

A post on X continued: "If you are in your car, please remain there. If you are not yet at the festival site, please delay your arrival."

It said two stages, the BBC Radio 1 stage and the brand new 'Aux' venue, would not feature performances - before later closing a third, the Chevron stage.

The all-new 40,000 capacity area had been due to host Nia Archives and Danny Howard today, with DJ and producer Skrillex set to headline.

"Unfortunately in light of updated site reports and despite our best efforts, the Chevron stage will not be able to open as planned today in Leeds," they said on X.

Organisers added the stage will open on Saturday and Sunday.

Northern Powergrid said it has experienced "high levels of disruption to power supplies with over 63,418 customers having been affected so far".

The worst affected area is West Yorkshire, it added. It said it has managed to "reconnect more than 27,000 customers of those who have been impacted".

A statement posted on Northern Powergrid's website said: "We know how difficult it can be for our customers during a power cut and we will continue to work throughout the storm to get the power back on as quickly as possible."

Northern Rail has reported issues across its network, with services to and from cities including Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Wigan affected.

Passengers were this morning advised to avoid travel, and disruption was expected until 11am.

A number of routes in Wales - Wrexham General to Chester and Bidston, Machynlleth to Shrewsbury - have also faced disruption.

Get the Sky News forecast for your area

Flights have also been disrupted with British Airways cancelling 14 departures that had been due to take off from London's Heathrow. A number of other aircraft were delayed.

A spokesperson for the airline said the disruption was "due to restrictions imposed by air traffic control as a result of adverse weather across the UK".

More from Sky News:
Dogs seized after man found dead
Southport victim's family hold funeral

What's the forecast for the rest of the weekend?

A yellow weather warning for rain is in place across much of South East England, for 6am to 1pm on Saturday.

The warning covers an area from the Isle of Wight up to Ipswich, Suffolk, and includes London.

People should expect "spells of rain, heavy at times, likely to cause some travel disruption and perhaps flooding in a few places", the Met Office said.

The North and North West will continue to see "a fairly unsettled weekend", with various fronts moving in and bringing more persistent rain, particularly for parts of western Scotland and Northern Ireland, according to the Met Office.

Temperatures in the South East will reach 21C (69.8F) on Saturday and Sunday and 23C (73.4F) on Monday, slightly below average for the time of year.

On Sunday, southern Britain and Ireland will be mainly dry, with some sunshine, but elsewhere there'll be showers or longer spells of rain. It'll be on the cool side again and rather blustery, especially in the North.

A similar picture is expected for bank holiday Monday as southern and eastern Britain will be mainly dry, with bright or sunny spells while the wind will pick up again in the North and West.

Temperatures will remain below average for most of the country.

Looking further ahead, more settled weather is expected later next week to end the month and season, Sky's Jo Robinson said.

There's also growing confidence that very warm or hot conditions will affect the South at least.

(c) Sky News 2024: UK weather: Leeds Festival forced to close second-largest stage as Storm Lilian hits