Storm Lilian sparks festival chaos as urinals blown away, stages shut all weekend & tents abandoned in ‘worst day ever’
The warning comes ahead of what could be the busiest August bank holiday on the roads on record.
STORM Lilian has caused chaos at the Leeds Festival after tents were blown away and urinals demolished.
Stages were also closed for the entire weekend due to safety fears.
Many ticket holders left the Bramham Park site when the storm hit on Friday.
A van had its windows smashed by a falling wall.
Organisers were forced to close the BBC Radio 1, Aux and Chevron stages due to the conditions but it was hoped the Chevron stage could be reopened.
Members of the health and safety team said on Friday evening it would not be possible to open the BBC Radio 1 and Aux stages for the entire weekend.
One festival-goer described her experience as the “worst day ever” after her group’s tent had been destroyed.
Carrie Gill, 19, said: “All the rain came in (to the tent) because the poles pulled so hard from the wind the fabric ripped open and leaked the whole tent with the rain.
“We even put those rock plastic pegs in the bottom and they have snapped.
“We aren’t allowed back into the area for hours, all our stuff is in our mates’ tent, phone’s on 30 per cent.
“All the stores have blown over, the urinal walls are gone and lads are just pissing against fences, people’s tents are in the sky, the store shops are all over the floor and shirts and things from stores are gone. It’s honestly really bad here.”
Declan Donnelly, an engineering production operator from Manchester, said he had seen tents abandoned by people who had decided to go hom
He said his group “had to hold on to our tent for about one to two hours as well as double peg it as when the gusts hit it was nearly flying off”.
The 20-year-old added: “It seems to have calmed down now but there’s lots of tents ripped, collapsed and destroyed, with a fair few tents left by people who have chosen to go home.”
Dylan Maggs, 26, said he had seen the perimeter wall fall on empty tents and smash a van window.
“We’re just laughing through it, not much else we can do really, it’s annoying but it is what it is. We’ve seen a lot of people ditch tents and leave.”
Jason Kamara, 23, said: “We were told it’d be windy but we had no idea it would be that bad.
“I think it felt worse from inside the tents but it was impossible to sleep because of the rattling sounds.”
It comes as some Brits could see between 50mm and 70mm of rain today, with the Met Office issuing a yellow weather warning for much of the south east of England.
The initial warning, which came into force at 6am and lasts until 1pm, stretched from Portsmouth, Hampshire, up to Ipswich in Suffolk.
However, this was later revised to just cover Kent and Sussex.
The Met Office said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “It’s been a very dry August across southeast England but that’s set to change on Saturday.
“A few spots may see a whole month’s worth of rain fall in less than 12 hours.”
Spells of rain, heavy at times, are likely to cause some travel disruption and possibly flooding in a few places.
Spray and flooding on roads are likely to make journey times longer
Bus and train services probably affected with journey times also taking longer.
There is a small chance of flooding of a few homes and businesses and also a small chance of some interruption to power supplies and other services.
It follows widespread travel disruption caused by Storm Lilian on Friday.
The warning comes ahead of what could be the busiest August bank holiday on the roads on record.
The RAC estimates 19.2million leisure trips by car will be made over the weekend, with 3.2million on Friday alone.
This is the highest since the motoring services company began recording data for the summer bank holiday in 2015.
Liam Eslick, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “With that yellow warning, expect some small travel disruption.
“I know it’s the start of the bank holiday so people may be out and about trying to get to their holiday destinations.
“We do say take care when driving on roads, stick to the main roads where you can because more local tracks could see some surface water.
“So do take care when travelling around through Saturday morning.”
The heaviest of the rain is expected to move away around mid-afternoon, but showers will linger around central and south east England, as well as western Scotland.
A wind warning was in place across northern England and North Wales until 11am on Friday, with Storm Lilian bringing widespread travel disruption including delayed and cancelled flights.
“Winds aren’t expected to be too much of an issue on Saturday though,” said Mr Eslick.
“It’s mainly going to be the rain.
“Winds will be pretty light in the south of England, though you may get the odd gust around the very far South East through the English Channel.
“But mainland is going to be pretty light.”
The Met Office said there could be a “brisk breeze” along the extreme east coast of Kent, where speeds are likely to reach 30mph.
Moving into Sunday, conditions are expected to ease – though some showers are forecast in the east, Northern England and southern Scotland.
Winds will pick up once again and it will be blustery for much of the UK.
But, according to the Met Office, this will not be as strong as the winds on Friday morning.
Looking ahead to the Bank Holiday Monday, Mr Eslick said: “Monday looks like the best of the days.
“There will be more in the way of some sunshine and winds are expected to ease.
“It will be a lot calmer coming into the Bank Holiday Monday and it will be nice to have that extra day this weekend to enjoy.”
