Man City v West Ham and Women’s Six Nations game called off due to Storm Ciara | Football

Manchester City’s Premier League encounter against West Ham, which was scheduled to take place at 4.30pm GMT on Sunday, has been postponed due to Storm Ciara.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings with winds expected to gust at 50-60 MPH across the country, and up to 80 MPH in coastal areas, leading to a number of sporting events being called off.

Manchester City, currently second in the Premier League, tweeted: “Due to extreme and escalating weather conditions and in the interests of supporter and staff safety, today’s @premierleague match against West Ham has been postponed.”

Sheffield United v AFC Bournemouth (2pm GMT) is still set to go ahead as scheduled.

England’s women’s Six Nations match against Scotland, which was due to take place in Glasgow this afternoon, has also been postponed.

As the weather worsened significantly across the UK, a statement released by Scottish Rugby on Sunday morning said: “The game was due to kick off at 12:10pm in Glasgow but the decision has been taken for both player, spectator and staff safety after consultation with local authorities, Glasgow Life, Six Nations and the RFU.”

A Scottish Rugby spokesperson added in the statement: “It is very disappointing to have to take this decision but given the extreme weather conditions and with supporters, players and staff safety being paramount it’s the correct decision.

“We will always put safety first. I’d like to apologise to fans for any inconvenience Storm Ciara has caused and we will update them with more information on the rescheduling on the game.”

England began their title defence with a 19-13 win in France last Sunday, while Scotland succumbed to an 18-14 defeat by Ireland in Dublin.

Elsewhere, in the Women’s Super League, Arsenal’s sold-out meeting with Tottenham has also been postponed. The match was due to take place at Meadow Park in Borehamwood.

A statement on Arsenal’s website read: “Our fixture against Tottenham Hotspur Women at Meadow Park today has been called off on the grounds of crowd safety, due to extreme weather conditions.

“The Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture was due to kick off at 2pm GMT, however, due to the extreme weather warnings this weekend, we have had to postpone the fixture.”

Racing meetings at Exeter and Southwell in England and at Punchestown in Ireland have also been called off.