This morning’s 8.45am Ben-my-Chree sailing from Douglas to Heysham has been cancelled because of stormy weather.

It means, of course, that the returning sailing this afternoon is also cancelled.

The 7.45pm sailing from Douglas to Heysham is subject to delay or cancellation, the Steam Packet says.

The weather forecast from the Met Office:

Today will be cloudy with some showery outbreaks of rain this morning, before a further spell of heavy rain moves in from the west later this afternoon, once again creating large areas of standing water on the islands roads.

A windy day with the strong southeast wind increasing to gale or severe gale force later this afternoon, giving gusts quite widely of 45-55 mph for a time, but up to 60 mph in more exposed spots. Top temperature around 12°C.

The wind will turn to the southwest and ease slightly towards midnight tonight, as the rain clears away to showers. Minimum temperature near to 8°C.

Saturday and Sunday will be bright with sunny spells and scattered showers, which may become quite heavy and merge into some longer spells of rain at times. Temperatures reaching up to 11°C at best in the moderate to fresh south to southwest wind.