Birmingham and West Midlands Wightwick Manor Gardens Clent Hills Coventry Charterhouse
Cambridgeshire Peckover House and Garden – closed on Sunday 25th, reopens Monday 26th
Cornwall Lanhyrdrock Trelissick – also closed on Saturday 24th Cotehele Godolphin – also closed on Saturday 24th Trerice – also closed on Saturday 24th Trengwainton – also closed on Saturday 24th, Sunday 25th and Monday 26th Glendurgan Garden – closed until Saturday 24th Pentire – cafe and toilets are closed today
Devon Killerton – The Parkland, Garden, Chapel and Chapel Grounds are closed today. The house, cafés and shop are open. Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum – also closed on Saturday 24th Castle Drogo Knightshayes Coleton Fishacre Saltram Buckland Abbey – also closed on Saturday 24th Greenway Lydford Gorge A la Ronde Finch Foundry
Dorset Kingston Lacy – The Woodland Walk is closed but the house, garden, shop and cafe are open. The Pikachu Art Adventure Trail will be affected by the woodland closure. Corfe Castle Brownsea Island – also closed on Saturday 24th
Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Hatfield Forest Paycocke’s House and Garden – also closed on Sunday 25th
Gloucestershire and the Cotswalds Hidcote Woodchester Park – the Trust10 is also cancelled on Sunday 25th Snowshill Manor and Garden
Hampshire Mottisfont The Vyne Hinton Ampner Sandham Memorial Chapel
Lake District Hill Top and Hawkshead – closed on Sunday 25th Aira Force and Gowbarrow Park – closed on Sunday 25th Historic Steam Yacht Gondola- Sailing is cancelled on Saturday 24th
Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Lyveden
Liverpool and Lancashire Speke Hall – also closed on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th
London Ham House and Garden Osterley Park and House Morden Hall Park – also closed on Saturday 24th, Sunday 25th and Monday 26th Runnymede and Ankerwycke
North East Wallington – closed until 11am on Monday 26th
Oxfordshire Stowe Gardens – the gardens are closed but New Inn, including the café and shop, are open. Hughenden Basildon Park Cliveden
The Peak District and Derbyshire Kedleston Hall – closed from 3pm today. The hall is open 11am to 4pm daily with last entry at 3.15pm
Shropshire and Staffordshire – Attingham Park – The Mile Walk, Walled Garden, Field of Play and Deer Park are closed but the Mansion and Stables (cafe, shop, bookshop) are open Ironbridge Gorge – The Miners walk, Canal Side and the Adventure Playground are closed and will reopen on Monday 26th. All other areas remain open as normal Shugborough Estate Wightwick Manor and Gardens Dudmaston Estate Comer Woods – The Cafe In Comer and visitor facilities are closed
Somerset Montacute House Dunster Castle and Watermill Barrington Court Lytes Cary Manor Fyne Court – also closed on Saturday 24th Prior Park Landscape Garden Brean Down
Suffolk Sutton Hoo – closing at 4pm on Friday 23, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October. Tales by Torchlight is cancelled on 23 and 24. Ticket holders have been contacted via email and will be automatically refunded. Flatford
Surrey Polesden Lacey Hatchlands Park Winkworth Arboretum Box Hill Claremont Landscape Garden Runnymede and Ankerwycke
Sussex Nymans Sheffield Park and Garden Petworth Bodiam Castle Standen House and Garden Bateman’s Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters – Café, Shop & toilets will be closed on Friday 23rd October Alfriston Clergy House – closed from 3.30pm today Monk’s House
Warwickshire Charlecote Park – some areas closed but The House, Wood Yard Cafe and Service Courtyard all remain open Packwood House – The Mystical and Magical Woodland Trail is closed and other partial closures are in place across the site Baddesley Clinton – some areas of the site are partially closed Upton House and Gardens Coventry Charterhouse – The garden is closed all day but the house and café remain open
Wiltshire Stourhead Mompesson House The Courts Garden
Worcestshire and Herefordshire
Berrington Hall Brockhampton Croft Castle and Parkland The Weir Garden Croome Hanbury Hall Tyntesfield
Yorkshrie Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden – Fountains by Floodlight is cancelled on Saturday evening and the whole estate will be closed on Sunday 25th Goddards – closed on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th Treasurer’s House, York – the gardens at Treasurer’s House will be closed on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th. The house will remain open as usual, by guided tour only
ONE UK theme park has announced it will close early today as Storm Austen hits the country with winds up to 80mph.
Paultons Park which has been hosting late-night Halloween evenings will close early tonight.
Paultons Park will close early today due to bad weatherCredit: AlamyStorm Austen has hit the UK with predicted 80mphCredit: Splash
On its website, it said: “Because of the forecast conditions from Storm Austen, we’ve cancelled tonight’s late night opening. The park will close at 4:30pm today.
“The safety of our guests and team always comes first, and we’re sorry for any disappointment.”
Sign up for the Travel newsletter
Thank you!
For those visiting today, tickets will be revalidated so you can come back another day.
Anyone who is booking to attend today but wants to change the day can do so free of charge.
Anyone on a short break will receive a return ticket and those with an annual pass can attend until 4.30pm.
At the Halloween Spooktacular visitors can go on the rides after dark, head to The Little Monsters Ball and go to the Spirit Squad Ghoul School.
For those who still want to go, the late-night events will still run on October 24, 27, 28 and 29.
Camel Creek Family Adventure Park in Wadebridge which is popular with younger families has also announced its closure due to “forecast of strong winds and heavy rain.”
The park will be in touch with those who have already booked a visit.
It hasn’t guaranteed that it will reopen on Saturday so has advised families to watch for updates on its social media and website for updates.
Camel Creek Adventure Park has announced it has closed for the dayCredit: Google maps/Camel Creek Family Adventure Park
Meanwhile, Thorpe Park is open as is Alton Towers.
At Chessington World of Adventure, the Zufari appears closed on the app and there’s a temporary delay of the opening of Jungle Rangers.
A spokesperson for all three theme parks said that they are open and operating ‘in line with standard weather safety procedures’.
They added that ride availability can vary throughout the ‘day depending on operational and weather conditions, and any temporary closures are assessed by our expert technical teams on a case-by-case basis’.
Marwell Zoo has closed its doors for the day, it said: “The zoo will be closed due to strong winds and heavy rain forecast. We aim to reopen on Saturday 24th Oct as normal.”
Chester Zoo also announced its closure in order to keep “visitors, animals and staff as safe.” Dartmoor Zoo is also closed.
Storm Austen which has hit the UK today has resulted in schools closed and flights cancelled with the Met Officeissuing amber and yellow weather warnings.
Paultons Park is expected to reopen tomorrowCredit: Supplied by PR
A NUMBER of flights to and from a UK airport have been cancelled today as Storm Austen hits the UK.
The country is set to be battered with 80mph winds with the south of England and the Channel Islands set to be affected the most.
Storm Austen brings 80mph winds as well as flight cancellations and delaysCredit: ReutersSouthampton Airport has cancelled a number of flights this morningCredit: AFP
Southampton Airport has cancelled the majority of its flights this morning to destinations like the Channel Islands, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast.
Some of the flights that have been taken off the schedule including the 11.20am flight from Southampton to Alderney and the easyJet flight to Glasgow this afternoon.
Sign up for the Travel newsletter
Thank you!
Guernsey-based airline Aurigny has cancelled all its services this morning due to the weather.
Departures have been cancelled until at least midday and arrivals until 2pm.
The Aurigny spokesperson said: “We recognise how frustrating and disappointing these cancellations will be over the holiday period.
“However, these decisions are never taken lightly, and safety must always come first.”
On its website, travel information explained that ‘all cancelled flights will be eligible for a full refund’ and affected customers will be contacted by the airline.
Some flights from Southampton remain on the schedule for this afternoon including the 12.35pm to Belfast with Aer Lingus and the 2.35pm Loganair flight to Newcastle.
On the Channel Island of Jersey, the airport has cancelled all flights this morning but should restart this afternoon.
Meanwhile, holidaymakers flying from Heathrow, Gatwick, or London City Airport have been advised to check the status of their flight today.
The area where Gatwick is located has a yellow wind warning today with predicted wind speeds of up to 60mph.
Aurigny which serves Guernsey has cancelled all flights this morningCredit: Alamy
Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh and Richard Madeley were on hand to detail the latest headlines to ITV viewers but one news segment sparked backlash
07:59, 23 Oct 2026Updated 08:22, 23 Oct 2026
Good Morning Britain viewers were less than impressed(Image: ITV)
A Good Morning Britain star sparked concerns from viewers after reporting live from Cornwall during Storm Austen.
Fans of the ITV show have been left less than impressed with coverage of the first named storm of the season. During the programme, Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh and Richard Madeley handed over to Jonathan Swain to share more information about the storm.
However, it wasn’t long before people commented on Jonathan being sent outside in the strong conditions, with many saying the same thing. On X, one person said: “Tiz the season for TV reporters to be out in the wind and rain shouting at the camera. Every autumn it’s the same.”
Someone else wrote: “I think most of us have experienced rough weather before. I don’t think we need a ‘roving reporter’ sent to Cornwall to show us what it’s like. Stop the fear mongering!” Another added: “FFS, why does GMB send reporters to storm spots? Absolutely pathetic.”
One person commented: “It’s windy and raining ffs. Scaremongering #storm.” As another added: “What is the point of having poor old Jonathan Swain out in horrible weather just to tell us it’s windy and raining? Your viewers aren’t so thick that they need to see a man struggling to broadcast to understand what wind and rain is. Get him back into the studio!” ITV has been contacted by The Mirror for comment.
When the camera showed Jonathan, he was seen outside battling the strong gusts while it was raining. He told viewers: “It’s certainly not peaceful down here in Newquay this morning. There have been gusts reported of 82mph here in Jersey.
“We’ve just been speaking to some locals in the area who have woken up to window rattling, fences falling over, people posting messages saying they’re feeling quite scared.”
The ITV star told viewers that it’s been reported that 5,000 homes have no power in Cornwall and parts of Devon. He continued: “We understand some schools are likely to have staggered starts later on today.
“It is pretty dangerous just being out here on the roads this morning, so that’s quite a sensible option to ensure people can get to schools safely.”
Ensure our latest TV stories always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings
Speaking to one of the locals, he called the weather “horrendous” before revealing it’s the worst he’s ever seen in the county. Wrapping up his segment, Jonathan added: “This is the amber weather warning that’s down here in Cornwall. This is what it looks like, this is what it feels like. It’s going to be like this for certainly, most of the morning.”
According to Met weather, Storm Austen will move from west to east through Friday, with winds generally diminishing later in the day. However, on Saturday, Storm Boelo is expected to hit, as wet and windy weather is expected across the whole of the UK.
Good Morning Britain continues weekdays on ITV from 6am
Brownsea Island is soon closing to the public until next yearCredit: Alamy
Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour will be closed on Friday, October 23 due to Storm Austen.
It is still unclear if the National Trust owned isle will open on Saturday.
Sign up for the Travel newsletter
Thank you!
A spokesperson for National Trust Brownsea Island also told Bournemouth Echo: “We apologise for any disappointment or inconvenience this may cause.
“The safety of our visitors, volunteers and staff is our top priority and this decision has been made to ensure everyone remains safe during the adverse weather conditions.”
Typically, it costs £12 to visit but National Trust members can enter for free.
It comes as the Met Office has issued weather warnings for wind and rain across parts of the UK, with two named storms due to bring disruption.
Storm Austen is expected to affect south-west England on Friday – with an amber warning for wind issued in parts of the region.
Over the weekend, Storm Boelo will affect Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of northern England with what the Met Office described as “impactful winds”.
LONDON — It’s the day after the London premiere of “Sense and Sensibility,” and its stars, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles, have shed the glamour of the evening before. Both are curled in chairs in an otherwise empty room in an upscale Hyde Park Corner hotel, modestly dressed in jeans, sneakers and casual tops. Each drinks from an enormous glass bottle of water rather than wasting time with a cup.
The spectacle of a blockbuster red carpet is familiar for Edgar-Jones, whose career took off after the 2020 limited series “Normal People” and has since included “Where the Crawdads Sing” and “Twisters.” But last night marked the biggest such occasion so far for Creed-Miles, best known for the Prime series “Hanna.”
“I was a bit nervous with my friends and family all there,” admits Creed-Miles, who plays the more emotional of Jane Austen’s Dashwood sisters, Marianne. “I’m very lucky because Daisy has done it before and she’s so cool about it.”
“Absolutely not,” says Edgar-Jones, who plays the sensible Elinor. She grins sheepishly. “If anything, I think I’m getting more nervous.”
Both actors understood the high stakes of remaking Austen’s 1811 debut novel, most famously adapted in 1995 by screenwriter and star Emma Thompson and director Ang Lee — a movie that became a generational touchstone nominated for seven Oscars. The new version, in theaters Friday, was adapted by Diana Reid and directed by Georgia Oakley, best known for her evocative 2022 feature debut, “Blue Jean.”
Oakley wanted to re-create the emotions of reading the book as a teenager.
“In comparison to other Austen novels, I remember it feeling quite wild,” Oakley says, speaking separately over Zoom. “I also wanted to capture the spirit of the two older sisters as the beating heart of the story. My memory of it was that their story was the main love story of the book.”
Daisy Edgar-Jones, left, as Elinor and Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne in a new version of “Sense and Sensibility.”
(Focus Features)
Oakley’s “Sense and Sensibility” emphasizes that relationship between Elinor and Marianne. Although they approach the world differently, they find common ground in each other. It was essential to find the right actor for each role, but also to ensure there was both tension and chemistry between them. Edgar-Jones, 28, was cast first without an audition. There was never any question as to which sister she would play.
“I have played a significant Marianne before,” Edgar-Jones says in a nod to affluent, tortured outcast Marianne Sheridan, her role in “Normal People.” “And I love both characters, but I’m moving into my late 20s now. Elinor has a maturity and a wise older soul quality that I really liked and felt I was right to occupy. I have always been attracted to characters who don’t necessarily have the words to express how they feel.”
Oakley appreciated Edgar-Jones’ restraint. “She is able to show so much by seemingly doing very little,” Oakley says. “Elinor has a lot on her shoulders, so I was looking for an actor who could give a sense of that from the very beginning.”
Creed-Miles, 26, faced a more uphill climb to become Marianne. She describes her first audition as awful.
“It was really bad,” she says. “Maybe I was nervous. I can be a bit of a mess. But someone saw something in me, I guess, and they called me back. This time I worked my ass off and spent days preparing the scenes. They liked that audition enough to bring me in for chemistry reads with Daisy and some of the boys.”
“There’s an earthy, undone nature to the world Georgia made,” Edgar-Jones says of director Oakley’s take on Austen.
(Erik Carter / For The Times)
“The first audition didn’t go exactly to plan,” says Oakley, who didn’t expect to see the actor again. “But [the second time] I was so moved by Esmé performance. We have this idea of how we think people are supposed to speak in a period drama, and Esmé seemed to not be affected by any of that.”
Edgar-Jones and Creed-Miles had previously worked together on the 2018 drama “Pond Life,” which was an asset going into “Sense and Sensibility.”
“It’s a summer I have never forgotten,” Edgar-Jones says of the experience, her first film role. “I met Esmé and we fell in love. We watched a lot of ‘Love Island.’ And then COVID happened and we weren’t reunited until our chemistry read.”
Although they hadn’t completely stayed in touch, there was a natural rhythm between them. “We had so much history and nothing was ever overly discussed,” Edgar-Jones adds. “It was instinctual. That level of intimacy takes time to develop and the fact that I already had years with Esmé meant that it felt very lived in.”
“Sense and Sensibility” was filmed entirely on location around England, primarily in the sweeping countrysides and dramatic coasts of Devon and Dorset. Oakley wanted to emphasize nature and to show how the Dashwood women’s emotional landscapes evolved alongside the shifting landscapes around them, both in the countryside at Barton Cottage and in the more confining social landscape of London. There is a naturalistic aesthetic to the film, augmented by the locations, the costumes and the hair and makeup design. The characters wear muted, sweeping gowns, their hair often loose.
“There’s an earthy, undone nature to the world Georgia made,” Edgar-Jones says. “Sometimes there’s distance you can sometimes get from watching a period drama because obviously we no longer wear corsets and bonnets and ride in horse-drawn carriages. But even though this feels very much of the Regency time, it also feels very close.”
“I loved how authentic everything felt,” Creed-Miles adds. “It didn’t feel frilly for the sake of itself. The clothes helped me find a sense of Marianne. I needed the costumes to close that gap.”
“We wore no makeup, even to the point where sometimes I’d put on some lip balm and Georgia would be like, ‘Take it off,’ ” Edgar-Jones recalls.
“The characters started to feel like real people in my life who I knew,” says Creed-Miles. “It was almost like a split personality.”
(Erik Carter / For The Times)
Creed-Miles says the unbuttoned aesthetic felt more true to the time, even if some commenters online have claimed it’s not period accurate.
“We don’t have depictions of women’s internal lives in the way that we do now,” she says. “When you look at a portrait there’s a composure that’s not the same as having a phone picture of someone when they’re getting out of bed in the morning.”
Oakley fills the screen with a palpable yearning. The camera often lingers over the actors’ faces, revealing Elinor’s inner turmoil and Marianne’s dramatic heartbreak. For many scenes, Oakley asked the cast to do silent takes.
“We wanted to tell a story that had space for some quieter moments,” the director says. “The actors were free to speak or make noises, but they couldn’t say the words of the scene.”
“In making this, I realized Elinor isn’t devoid of emotion,” Edgar-Jones says. “She’s full of it, but she’s learned how to govern it. Realizing that she was an extraordinarily passionate person and not a stone was really important for me. By the end, I felt completely marinated in it.”
“The characters started to feel like real people in my life who I knew,” Creed-Miles agrees. “It was almost like a split personality.”
“Circumstances have changed for young women quite drastically over the past 200 years,” director Oakley says. “But the fundamental contradictions around what it means to be a young woman haven’t changed nearly as much as we would like to think.”
(Erik Carter / For The Times)
Oakley’s interpretation of “Sense and Sensibility” has a wistful, almost Brontë-like quality. You can feel each character’s pain and joy and hopefulness. At the premiere, the audience audibly gasped and cheered, even though Austen’s story is well known to many. Oakley didn’t want to make her film overly contemporary, but she feels the story resonates today because Austen is so timeless.
“Circumstances have changed for young women quite drastically over the past 200 years,” Oakley says. “But the fundamental contradictions around what it means to be a young woman haven’t changed nearly as much as we would like to think. There’s this enormous gap between what we tell young women that they can reasonably expect from their lives and what the world is prepared to offer them.”
Creed-Miles admits that she’s recently fought with someone on Instagram about whether Austen was a feminist.“They didn’t have that terminology back then, but she was a rebellious author in that she used these sociocultural structures to explore the trials and tribulations of femininity,” Creed-Miles says. “It was really important to Georgia that we kept that alive. Reading Austin as an adult, I have so much respect and admiration for the themes she was exploring with a really deft hand. It’s never rammed down your throat.”
Edgar-Jones, an Austen fan, agrees that she captured a truth about the human experience. That’s what allows the author’s work to be retold and reimagined over decades.
“The joy of adaptation is that every new person who says these words will bring a piece of themselves and give it new meaning,” Edgar-Jones says. “And every time we explore something again, it will be colored with the context of today. Great art, like this, should be brought to life again and again.”
