The Ben-my-Chree finally arrived back in Douglas tonight (Sunday) nearly six hours after leaving Heysham and a woman passenger said it had been 'absolutely horrendous'.

According to the Steam Packet website the Ben departed the Lancashire port at 2.26pm and finally arrived here at 8.20pm.

The ’Packet’ had said the vessel had originally been expected to arrive around 6pm but because of the adverse weather conditions would be arriving later.A woman who was travelling on the boat, Jo Hartley of Douglas, later told Isle of Man Newspapers Facebook pages: 'I was on that boat and I don’t get seasick but it was absolutely horrendous. All credit to the crew for getting us home safely, especially the lovely chap running the premium lounge, looking after us in between bathroom visits.'

As reported earlier, the Steam Packet announced earlier that the Ben’s sailing back to Heysham had been cancelled tonight because of gales. And the overnight return sailing from Heysham had also been called off as a result.

Storm Atiyah has been battering parts of the British Isles and Ireland.The Met office at Ronaldsway issued this weather update at 8pm tonight (Sunday): 'Showers will affect the island at first tonight, but will become isolated later with clear spells developing. Windy with a strong to gale force southwest wind which will quickly turn to the northwest overnight, with minimum temperature near to 5°C.GE White's said tonight that because of the boat cancellation there will be no UK newspapers in the shops tomorrow.(Monday)