Durham Regatta: Races cancelled for Saturday and Sunday following heavy rains

Durham Regatta spokesman Colin Lawson previously said racing would be cancelled on Saturday and they would take review the plan for Sunday later today.

But following a further review of the forecast and the state of the river, the decision has been made to cancel the event for the weekend.

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A statement from the organisers said: "Following a further review of the state of the river and the current weather forecast the Regatta Race and Technical Committee has taken the decision to abandon racing for both Saturday and Sunday.

"The President and members of Durham Regatta share the disappointment of all the competitors who will now not have the opportunity of racing at the North's premier regatta in 2019.

"We would like give a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Regatta this year and put so much effort into its preparation.

"On the bright side we are more than ready for 2020 and look forward to welcoming you next year."
 

The earlier statement read: "Unfortunately due to the amount of rainfall overnight in Durham and the Dales the river is now rising rapidly and is not safe for racing.

"As a consequence the regatta race and technical committee has decided that racing on Saturday will not take place." 

He added: "All of the activities are cancelled for today. It is very disappointing. There has been a lot of work gone into the preparation. 

"We are always monitoring the charts of the Environment Agency, so we can follow the graphs of the river level higher up the valley.

"That is showing there has been a large increase in level overnight, so that water will have to come down the river into Durham and we are predicting it is going to be too high to have racing. 

"There will be a peak and then it will go down again. It's uncertain just when that will happen."