Aintree Racecourse has cancelled today's Halloween Family Fun Day, which was set to feature the William Hill Old Roan Chase, due to high winds caused by Storm Boelo. The racecourse apologised for the cancellation and said the safety of everyone is the number one priority.
Cancellation Announced Early Morning
The decision to cancel today's meeting was announced just after 7am on October 25, after winds reached 44mph in the area overnight. An announcement had been made yesterday saying an inspection would take place at 8am today, but since conditions worsened, the decision was made to cancel the meeting before the scheduled inspection.
Aintree Racecourse released a statement saying: "Today's Halloween Family Fun Day featuring the William Hill Old Roan Chase has been abandoned due to high winds caused by Storm Boelo. Overnight wind speeds have reached 44mph, with the outlook for the day showing further significant winds until at least early afternoon."
Refunds and Hospitality Arrangements
The statement continued: "While we are disappointed, the safety of our participants, visitors and teams is our number one priority. General admission ticket holders will be refunded, and hospitality bookers will be contacted in the coming days by a member of the team. Thank you for understanding and we hope to see you soon."
Today's weather warning is in place until 9pm with further disruption expected. Merseyrail confirmed that a number of their early services will run without passengers to ensure the rail lines are clear and safe to use. Customers have been urged to check the Merseyrail website or app before travelling, as service information will be updated throughout the day.
Rail Disruption and Weather Forecast
Rail replacement buses will be running between Sandhills, Rock Ferry and Moorfields stations as planned.
The Met Office said: "Strong winds will spread across northern parts of the UK during Saturday afternoon, combining with spells of heavy rain. Initially strong southerly winds will affect parts of Scotland before more widespread and even stronger westerly winds develop later on Saturday. Very windy conditions will then persist overnight and through much of Sunday before gradually easing from the southwest later. Gusts of 55-65 mph are likely widely with some coastal and exposed areas potentially seeing gusts of 70-80 mph or more, these strongest gusts most likely across Scotland and the far north of England."
