Four out of five halls at the Husum Wind 2017 fair are being temporarily closed due to a storm warning after midday on Wednesday to ensure the safety of exhibitors and visitors.

Organisers have called on delegates to vacate halls one to four, which are located in large, but temporary tents at the event site close to the North Sea, as heavy gusts of winds had been battering the tents for the past hour, causing metal structures at stands inside to shake.

Visitors and exhibitors have been asked to go to hall 1 or the adjacent congress building, both of which are permanent structures.

Weather forecasts for Husum warn of rains and gusts of wind at hurricane-force during the afternoon, with wind speeds up to 120km per hour.

Organisers later said halls 1 to 4 will remain closed all day, but open again normally on Thursday.

While its windy climate was one of the reasons Husum became an early centre of the European wind sector and home to a growing industry fair, the weather-related interruption of the show is bad news for the organisers.

“We are used to stronger wind in Husum, not without reason, we are the home of the wind industry,” Peter Becker, managing director of Messe Husum & Congress said in a later release.

“But storm Sebastian has forced us to this reaction to guarantee the safety of exhibitors and guests. Tomorrow [Thursday] the fair will continue as usual.”

Husum Wind alternates each year with the larger WindEnergy Hamburg show that will be held again in 2018.

While wind industry officials generally praise the more relaxed atmosphere at Husum, which with an expected visitor number of 18,000 is about half the size of the Hamburg show, many have also been complaining about Husum’s remoteness for international visitors and lack of accommodation.

Husum is officially geared towards the German domestic wind industry, while WindEnergy Hamburg caters to the wider international sector.