Storm Eunice is providing an unexpected boost for a local aviation channel with hundreds of thousands of people tuning in to watch footage of landings at Heathrow Airport.
Jerry Dyer, from Big Jet TV, has been streaming footage showing planes attempting to land in tricky conditions during Storm Eunice on Friday.
The channel hit a record 200,000 concurrent live viewers tuning into its stream of planes struggling to land due to strong winds at Heathrow Airport.
Winds of up to 70mph have been recorded at Heathrow. London is under a rare red weather alert until 3pm, meaning there is a risk to life.
Mr Dyer has been filming the footage from a field next to Heathrow complete with commentary, and the odd shot of a horse and dog scuttling beneath his feet.
Mr Dyer told BBC Radio 2 it was “exciting stuff”.
“This is the best scenario you could possibly imagine – big kudos to the pilots and the crews working at the airports, this is the most exciting stuff you could possibly get.
“Right now, these conditions with 70mph gusting winds, it’s pretty intense.
“And what is great is you get to see the skill of the pilot and how they manage to handle it.”
Dyer runs Big Jet TV full-time and serves as one of two people running the business.
It has built a substantial following over the past six years by livestreaming aircraft movements.
However, it tends to attract its biggest audience during storms, when its cameras are set up on the perimeter of airports and broadcast for hours.
Many flights were cancelled on Friday following strong gusts across the country.
At Heathrow Airport, at least 65 flights – both departures and arrivals – were cancelled and a further 114 were delayed by more than 15 minutes, according to aviation data provider FlightStats by Cirium.
At Gatwick there were 15 cancellations and 67 delayed flights.
EasyJet said it has cancelled a “small number of flights” from UK airports on Friday.
Passengers on easyJet flight EJU8014 from Bordeaux to London Gatwick endured two aborted landings before their plane was put in a holding pattern over the south coast and then forced to return to the French city.
It touched down back at its starting point more than three hours after it departed.
The airline told passengers: “We’re very sorry that your flight has now been diverted back to Bordeaux.
“This is due to poor weather conditions in London Gatwick, which are below safe operating limits.”
