Wing commander tells disappointed aviation fans why he had to cancel Red Arrows display

The wing commander in charge of the Red Arrows has this afternoon issued a robust explanation of why had cancel a display in Southport at the last minute despite a short-lived downpour on the coast.

Thousands of aviation fans were left disappointed at Southport Airshow today (Saturday) when the famous display team - officially The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team - had to cancel their display at the minute as the distinctive red Hawk trainer jets were poised for takeoff at nearby Blackpool Airport.

Others perched on vantage points on a planned circular route taking the Red Arrows over parts of the north west including Bolton and Wigan were also left disappointed.

Display team bosses blamed an unexpected although brief burst of heavy showers on the coast - and were forced to explain why the Red Arrows couldn't simply wait for the bad weather to pass when Southport was later bathed in sunshine.

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Posting on X (formerly Twitter),Wing Commander Adam Collins said: "We’re disappointed that we couldn’t display at the Southport airshow, but unexpected heavy showers, localised to Blackpool meant the runway would not be safe for us to land on after the display. None of the other airfields close to Southport were available for use this weekend.

"Unfortunately the runway wouldn’t have dried in time for our display. Delaying until later in the day isn’t an option - we have a large column of restricted airspace specifically for our safety that is only active for a few minutes either side of our planned display time window.

"That restricted airspace time window is booked weeks in advance with the Civil Aviation Authority and cannot be