Sir Tom Jones ‘so disappointed’ York show was called off over lightning

Sir Tom Jones has apologised to fans after his concert at York Racecourse on Friday was cancelled due to stormy weather conditions, leaving the singer “so disappointed”.

Jones, 78, had been due to make his live comeback at the horse racing venue after he was forced to pull out of five dates of his live tour due to illness.

In a post on Twitter, Sir Tom suggested that the show may be rescheduled.

He wrote: “So disappointed about York last night and so sorry for you all.

“But lightening is unpredictable, dangerous and causes havoc so much better safe than talking about something tragic today.

“Hopefully see you soon, we are working on it.”

Hours before the Thunderball singer’s scheduled set at the track, York Racecourse sent out an apology and confirmed that the volatile weather had been behind the decision to call it off.

The venue confirmed to one disappointed fan on social media that Sir Tom had planned to travel to the show by helicopter but the storm had made it “unsafe to fly”.

They added that the efforts of the Welshman’s team to transport him to York came “to no avail” despite trying three airfields to see if they could make the journey happen.

A 50% refund was offered to disappointed fans, with many complaining about the compensatory offer.

In a statement York Racecourse said: “As anyone at the track on Friday evening will know, the weather closed in, with a series of storms hitting the course.

“More significantly similar storms blocked the route of both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft between his (Jones) London home and Yorkshire.

“York Racecourse and Sir Tom wish to apologise to his fans for this disappointment and understand the inconvenience caused.

“The race meeting itself went ahead with six races completed.”

A seven-race meeting, followed by live music from Irish boy band Boyzone, is scheduled to go ahead as planned on Saturday.

Former X Factor singer James Arthur was also forced to cancel an open-air show in Scarborough on Thursday because of continued lightning strikes in the area.

Sir Tom missed three UK shows, a date in Germany plus an appearance at a Finnish festival earlier in July while he was recovering in hospital from a bacterial infection.