Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: Royal plane aborts landing after Pakistan storms

A Royal Air Force plane carrying the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge aborted a landing in Pakistan after being caught in a severe thunderstorm.

The RAF Voyager twice tried to land in Islamabad - at Rawalpindi air base and the main airport - before returning to Lahore, from where they had departed.

Prince William and Catherine are on a four-day official visit to Pakistan.

The aircraft was on a 25-minute journey but stayed in the air for more than two hours due to the thunder and lightning.

A passenger described the incident as a "pretty serious storm" and the turbulence on the flight as a "rollercoaster".

Another passenger said: "The plane was making large jerking movements as we tried to battle through the wind."

The duke and duchess had spent the day in Lahore, joining in a cricket match and touring the Badshahi Mosque.

They also went to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, where Prince William's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, had visited a year before her death in 1997.

By BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond

The first sign of any trouble was a delay, then an announcement - the royal flight back from Lahore to Islamabad would wait for storms above the capital to clear.

Then there was a descent - and steadily building turbulence. Quite a bit of turbulence. Seat belt signs went on, the plane pulled up. Some calm returned.

Then came a second attempt at landing; this time the plane shook, bucked and fell in the stormy air; seasoned flyers on board were gripping armrests and the seats in front of them.

But after the aborted landing Prince William was in good spirits and joked about the flight.