Family 'terrified' after London Eye hatch blown open by Storm Henk's 70mph winds

3 January 2024, 14:41

Gales of up to 70mph hit London on Tuesday, blowing a hatch open on a London Eye pod and terrifying a family.

David Nock and his family were visiting London from Dorset and didn't realise how strong Storm Henk's winds were until they got on the London Eye.

Mr Nock recounted the terrifying incident he and his party experienced.

"We got on, started to move and it was stop-starting on the way up. As we got to the 12 o'clock top it stopped. The wind really started to howl," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"The wind was so strong it actually ripped an access hatch off the top of the pod we were in.

"You can imagine, it got very noisy and the wind was blowing and it was slightly terrifying."

The access hatch remained attached to the pod but had opened because of the strong winds from Storm Henk.

He continued: ‘The concern then is, that if the hatch comes off, you’ve then got quite a large object flying from a very very tall structure.

"There was one chap there who was saying his prayers, he was very nervous.

"It started moving again and things were kind of on course."

Mr Nock said he then pushed the emergency button in the pod when he noticed the hatch began "getting caught in the mechanism."

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After Mr Nock spoke to a member of staff, the London Eye was evacuated and closed.

A spokesperson for the London Eye said: "Our expert technical team immediately ensured that guests safely disembarked and conducted further rigorous checks before reopening the attraction that evening.

"We can confirm that no parts of the pod detached from the main structure and that no guests were injured."