Organisers of the Classic TT remain confident the racing programme can still be completed in full this week, despite unsettled conditions bringing delays and cancellations.

For the first time this fortnight, poor weather disrupted racing on Wednesday as rain swept across the island. Today’s schedule has been hit by more disruption, with racing now not due to begin until around 6.30pm.

Thursday had been earmarked as a contingency day, but the Ronaldsway Met Office warned of heavy showers throughout, making the chances of running any races extremely limited.

Forecaster Colin Gartshore explained: ‘Racing should go ahead on Wednesday which means there will be no need to use the contingency day on Thursday, which is just as well as it looks like there will be showers all day.

‘Friday looks okay. There will be the odd shower but they will be scattered and hopefully there will be brighter spells. I think the race organisers will get the programme done on Friday. There is no contingency on Saturday but, even if there was, it looks like a washout.’

Clerk of Course Gary Thompson apologised to fans for Wednesday’s disruption, which came on what was scheduled to be the first full day of Classic TT racing.

He said: ‘We are going to need to be a bit flexible. Thursday is a contingency day but I can’t see us getting much in with the weather that’s due to come in, that’s why we are trying to push to get it in today.

‘That will leave us with the historic Senior and Junior races on Friday morning and the Classic Senior in the afternoon.’

As of Wednesday evening, the plan was to close the roads at 6pm to stage the Lightweight Classic, along with TT Rewind and Classic Sidecar Parade laps. The Formula One Classic TT, however, was cancelled.

While frustrating for organisers and fans, the disruption so far is relatively minor compared with the difficulties faced earlier in the summer during TT fortnight. On that occasion, persistent poor weather forced the cancellation of the Senior TT – a race rarely lost from the schedule – while several others had to be shortened.

This week’s interruptions come after several days of fine conditions, including a hot Bank Holiday Monday when temperatures reached unusually high levels. The outlook now has a more autumnal feel, with cooler air and unsettled weather dominating the forecast.

Temperatures are expected to stay around 16-17C. While not cold, they are slightly below the long-term average for the end of August.

Mr Gartshore suggested this could signal the end of what has been a notably warm summer overall. He said: ‘It is unlikely we will reach 20C again with September looking cooler and more unsettled. The weather pattern is changing now as we head towards autumn.

‘I’m not sure people realise just how good it has been this summer, which could be the warmest or second warmest on record. While we haven’t had a two or three week period of continuous sunshine, the Isle of Man and the British Isles have enjoyed several mini heatwaves and a sustained spell of dry weather despite the brief appearance of Storm Floris earlier in August.’