Britain’s flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth will exchange gun salutes in the Solent as part of Cowes Week 2024 celebrations.

The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier will sail past the Isle of Wight, before she heads into Portsmouth.

While going past, she will exchanging gun salutes with the Royal Yacht Squadron.

The ship is expected to pass Prince Consort Buoy westbound at around 6.15pm.

From around 6.30pm until 6.50pm, she will hold off Cowes for a ceremonial and salute exchange.

Royal Yacht Squadron said: "This will be a fabulous spectacle and we hope many members and competitors will be able to watch."

The ship is due to return home to Portsmouth tomorrow following four months of repairs in Scotland and a short intensive spell at sea to test her systems.

Commander Alex Davies, head of the marine engineering department, said: “An enormous amount of work has taken place over the last few months to get us to this point. 

“This is at the larger end of the scale for Royal Navy Marine Engineering, and it has taken a really effective team effort from our own engineers, Defence Equipment and Support, and our Industry Partners to return us to sea.”