This afternoon’s Liverpool sailing will depart as planned at 3pm with the return sailing leaving Merseyside at 7.15pm.

There were questions over whether the Manannan would sail this afternoon, but the Steam Packet told customers it would be departing as normal just after 1pm today (Friday).

Storm Kathleen has resulted in every sailing to and from Douglas up until Monday, April 8 at risk of disruption or cancellation.

The Met Office has said we could see winds of up to 55mph over the next three days.

This morning’s Manxman sailing to Heysham went ahead as planned but its afternoon return and crossings later this evening have been cancelled.

With the rest of today’s Manxman sailings being cancelled after this morning’s crossing to Lancashire, the next chance for the vessel to return to Douglas will be early morning on Saturday, which has been brought forward to 1.30am, but remains at risk of cancellation or further disruption.

A decision on tonight’s 1.30am Manxman sailing from Heysham will be made by 5.30pm today. The Steam Packet has said: ‘The current weather forecast predicts strong to gale force winds and heavy rain, affecting much of the UK and Ireland.

‘We are monitoring weather forecasts closely and will contact affected passengers on any changes to the schedule as soon as possible’.