One of the Isle of Man's most beloved festive traditions has been cancelled due to forecast bad weather.

Santa’s on a Bike, an event which would have seen hundreds of motorcyclists dress-up as Father Christmas and take to the island’s roads for a charity motorbike ride, has been axed as Storm Darragh looms.

Hosted by plan.com, the event raises tens of thousands of pounds for good causes every December.

This year’s run was set to start on Victoria Road in Douglas from 10am on Saturday.

But event organisers have now announced that the run has been axed due to forecast high winds.

Nicola Patterson, Chief People Officer at plan.com, said: ‘It is with a heavy heart that I officially announce the cancellation of Santa’s on a Bike 2024 this Saturday, due to the imminent arrival of Storm Darragh, bringing extremely high winds and heavy rain to the island.

‘This comes with huge disappointment to myself, the brilliant Santa’s on a Bike Team and absolutely everyone involved in the event, but we of course have to put the safety of our Santas first.

‘With massive thank you to the Isle of Man Constabulary for their support and to every single one of you who has donated, played golf, given raffle prizes, decorated your bike, bought a Santa suit, bought a raffle ticket and everything else you have all done to get involved – we could not do it without you all and I promise this will never put us off.

‘We were so excited to start this iconic island event outside our office this year so we will do everything in our power to get our Santa’s back on bikes in 2025. ‘

An amber weather warning for severe winds, issued by the Ronaldsway Met Office, comes into effect at 3am on Saturday and remains in place until 11.59pm.

Meanwhile a yellow weather warning for heavy rain will come before the amber alert, taking effect at 3pm tomorrow and lasting until midday on Saturday.

Forecasters warn that the strongest winds will peak between 3am and 3pm on Saturday but could remain at gale force levels well into Sunday morning.