THE Red Arrows have cancelled their debut Southampton Water flypast amid poor weather conditions.

The Daily Echo was earlier told a full display was highly unlikely but organisers were trying to secure at least a fly past by the team.

Then the pilots took off - but were struggling to find a window to execute their planned flypast.

 


 

The weather suddenly cleared at Bournemouth so pilots could take off. They took to the air but above the Isle of Wight they encountered sea fog.

Mike Ling, Red Arrows supervisor said "it never rains but it pours".

Meanwhile planes are continually taking off from Southampton Airport at present.

The display was meant to be at 3.05pm but leader pilot Red 1 has decided to delay the departure to save fuel.

Hundreds of waiting people have been left disappointed. 

The Red Arrows were supposed to soar over Southampton Water shortly after 3pm for the first time as part of the Cunard line’s 175th anniversary celebrations.

But the display was halted amid thunderstorms and heavy rain bearing down on the city. 

It could lead to a repeat performance of the cruise lines’ Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June 2012 when the weather prevented them from carrying out their displays.

Cunard spokesman Michael Gallagher had earlier said a last-minute weather watch would take place

He said: “Everything is set to take place as planned.

“But they take these decisions through the day and are checking the weather.

“It might change at the last minute.”

Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2 will make her way up the water to City Terminal in the Western Docks and the RAF team will perform a display over the liner.

The team were due to appear in the skies over the city twice in 2012, but on each occasion the weather prevented them carrying out displays.

Today’s events will mark the 175th anniversary of the first crossing of the Atlantic by Cunard, with QM2 arriving in Liverpool on Saturday, 175 years to the day since the Britannia set sail from Merseyside for Boston.

The Red Arrows recently performed a fly-over in Liverpool for the “Three Queens” event which saw QM2 joined by the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.

The display was meant to have featured a number of new moves including the shape of the historic Spitfire aircraft which was created and built in and around Southampton, and a number of other synchronised formations and acrobatic stunts.