The first night of a three-day music festival was called off due to severe weather, organisers said. 

Jurassic Fields in west Dorset was due to open its gates yesterday afternoon, with the first acts scheduled to perform at 3.30pm. 

The county was battered by heavy rain and strong winds, with the Met Office issuing Dorset with a yellow weather warning for wind.

The warning remains in place today, Saturday. 

Early yesterday, on its social media page, the festival announced it was delaying opening the gates until 5pm because of the poor weather conditions.

However, in a further update, it said it wouldn't be able to open the site last night. 

A Jurassic Fields spokesperson said: "We have done all we can to make it happen but the weather is completely against us and the safety of attendees and crew is the most important thing.

"We are constantly monitoring the conditions and we will be giving updates as soon as we can, whilst dealing with the immediate situation."

Last night's turn of events will be disappointing for everyone involved - Jurassic Fields was set up as a not-for-profit organisation and is very much a community affair. 

After years at Asker Meadows, the 2023 event is at a new, bigger location at West Bay Fields, Bridport.

Organisers remain hopeful and, as it stands, the rest of the weekend is still planned to go ahead.

They plan to give an update on this at 9am today. 

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for strong winds that will affect Dorset over the weekend.

A warning is in place for the whole county again today.

The forecaster has said today will likely be an "unseasonably windy day" for the affected area.