STORMY conditions and strong winds have seen Southend's lights festival put "on pause" by council bosses.

Southend is set to be hit by 70mph gusts tomorrow as Storm Eunice strikes the town.

On Wednesday, one installation titled "Together" - showing giant hands in a love heart - had to be taken down in anticipation of high winds but Southend Council hoped the remaining displays would be unaffected.

However, today the council announced the LuminoCity event would be "paused" today.

Wind speeds are anticipated to drop on Saturday, with the council confident the festival will resume in full for the final day.

Jacqui Dalimore, chair of the Southend Tourism Partnership, said: “This is very upsetting given the incredible effort of everyone to make this a festival a reality.

We have seen families enjoying the incredible installations and we know how excited everyone has been for the city’s inaugural event.

"Having said that, we must make safety our priority and we cannot take any risks with members of the public.”

The festival will continue as planned tonight, but events on Friday are paused while the Met Office warns people to stay inside unless absolutely necessary.

A number of residents braved the conditions on Wednesday night to enjoy the light installations, but Southend Council has insisted public safety must be put first.

Carole Mulroney, cabinet member for environment, culture, tourism and planning, said: “This is terribly disappointing news because we know how much people were looking forward to visiting the festival.

"On Wednesday night in very windy conditions, we saw how many people were happy to brave the winds to come to Southend but Storm Eunice is forecast to be far worse and we must ensure the safety of residents and visitors.

"We cannot take any unnecessary risks.

"We are set to experience winds we very rarely ever see in this country, and so the timing could not be any worse, but I am sure everyone will understand our decision.

“No one can control the weather, but we are all used to that and we’ll make the best of the situation.

“We will post out further updates via the Visit Southend facebook page and the council’s main corporate social media accounts."