Leeds Festival shuts two stages as Storm Lilian hits

Liam Gallagher is due to headline the music festival in Bramham Park, near Wetherby, on Friday night (August 23), as the event gets under way for three days of music over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Strong winds of up to 80mph are forecast in northern parts of England and Wales on Friday – with travel disruption, flooding, power cuts and dangerous conditions near coastal areas likely.

On X, organisers announced that both the BBC Radio 1 Stage and Aux Stage would be “lost” at the festival, and added they “remain hopeful that everything else will continue as planned”.

“We can see an end in sight to the high winds,” the post read. “We definitely won’t be opening the arena at 11am, but we are targeting as soon as possible after that and we will update you further.

“However, we have definitely lost the BBC Radio 1 stage today, and there will be no performances on it.

Liam Gallagher is due to headline Leeds Festival on Friday night (Image: Michael Boyd/PA Wire)

“We have also lost the Aux stage today, and there will be no performances on it.

“We remain hopeful that everything else will continue as planned and that we will still have an amazing weekend. Please await further information.”

A yellow wind warning issued by the Met Office was in place across northern England and north Wales until 11am on Friday, with the storm bringing gusts of around 50-60mph in the region.

Earlier on Friday morning, Reading and Leeds Festivals encouraged revellers based in Leeds to stay in their tents while the site was hit by strong winds.

Cemetery closes after tree comes crashing down

Selby Cemetery was forced to closed on Friday after a tree came crashing down, according to a councillor in the town.

Cllr Steve Shaw-Wright said no one was hurt after the mature tree fell.

"Trees have destroyed the Apiary, but fortunately no serious damage, council staff working to secure the site, and will be working on the tidy up as soon as practicable," he explained. "There are no funerals today and we ask residents to avoid the area today."

The fallen tree in Selby Cemetery which was closed on Friday (Image: Steve Shaw-Wright)

Cllr Shaw-Wright took a photograph of the scene showing a tree lying across a temporary building, with the structure badly damaged. 

Meanwhile, the storm brought disruption to roads and the railway across York and North Yorkshire on Friday morning.

Recommended reading:

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• Storm Lilian fells tree and closes North Yorkshire cemetery

A fallen tree closed one lane on the A64 westbound from the A19 Fulford Interchange to the A1036 Tadcaster Road.

Trains were being cancelled and delayed due to an object caught on the overhead electric wires between Doncaster and York, meaning all lines were blocked between these stations.

LNER said rail replacement buses had been requested to run between those stations, with disruption expected until 10.30am.

Northern added that an 8.00am service from Scarborough to York was delayed by a blocked tree.