Leeds Festival has been hit hard by Storm Lilian, with strong winds causing major disruption.

Organizers have advised festival-goers to stay in their tents as gale-force winds continue to blow across the festival site.

The BC Radio 1 and Aux stages are officially closed for today and no performances are scheduled due to the bad weather conditions.

Festival organizers posted an update on X stating that the area will not open at 11am as planned, but that they are working to reopen the area once conditions improve.

They urged those in attendance to stay safe and remain in their tents or vehicles until the storms pass.

Manchester Pride organisers are keeping a close eye on Storm Lilian as it moves across the region, but for now they expect the event to go ahead as scheduled.

The storm, which hit the Greater Manchester area this morning, brought heavy rain and strong winds of up to 60mph (96km/h), causing significant damage.

Trees have fallen on cars, houses and tram lines across the area. Several events have already been affected, including the Bolton Food and Drink Festival, which has been postponed due to damage to stalls and the main stage.

Despite the bad weather, thousands of people are still expected to descend on the city centre for Manchester Pirde, one of the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

The four-day event will feature guests including Rita Ora, Sugababes and Loreen, with Jessie J and Keala Settle performing tonight.

Event organizers remain optimistic, predicting the storm will subside this afternoon.

Northern Powergrid reports that Storm Lilian has caused major power outages for more than 60,000 customers.

The company, which operates in the North East of England, Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, has so far restored power to more than 27,000 homes.

The company’s director of customer service said the company is focusing on quickly addressing the urgent situation.

“Our main priorities are to deal with emergencies as quickly as possible, support our customers and ensure our people can work safely as soon as conditions allow,” said Louise Lowes.

Chaos has broken out at Leeds Festival as England is battered by wind gusts of up to 80mph, with Storm Lilian issuing a code yellow warning across the country.

On Friday (August 23), organizers of the annual festival announced a delayed start and the closure of several stages due to poor weather conditions.

This year’s Reading and Leeds festivals were headlined by Liam Gallagher, Blink 182, producer Fred Again…, Lana Del Rey, Gerry Cinnamon and Catfish and the Bottlemen.

Gallagher will headline tonight’s festival in Leeds and so far seems unfazed by the chaos that is unfolding at the festival.

“LEEDS VIBES IN THE LG NEIGHBORHOOD,” the rock ‘n’ roll star shared with X/Twitter earlier this morning.

The Independent’s music editor has the full story:

London’s Underground network was running smoothly this morning, but the Overground is experiencing serious delays.

Transport for London (TfL) reported significant disruption on the Overground line between Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction, continuing to Richmond.

The delays are due to a broken down train at Kentish Town West earlier today.

A resident of Whitefield in Greater Manchester called the storm ‘crazy weather for August’ after spotting fallen trees on his morning walk with his dog.

Claims adviser Simon Johnson, 44, told the PA news agency: “It’s like a green explosion with leaves and tree branches littering the streets.”

A visitor to Leeds Festival said he held on to his tent to prevent it blowing away and saw the wall fall on empty tents and smash a van window.

Dylan Maggs, 26, told the PA news agency he saw “lots of people taking down their tents and knocking them down at around 7am” and his group “waited for it to be over”.

“We are sitting on our tents now so they don’t fly away,” he said, adding: “Almost all of us are holding on to our tents, and there are six of us.”

His group was “right next to” the fence when it came down and said: “It looks worse than it was – there was no one in the tents when it came down. A fence also smashed a window of a van.

“We just laugh about it, there’s not much we can do about it, it’s annoying but it is what it is. We’ve seen a lot of people leave their tents and go away.”