Ultra Miami forced to evacuate due to "severe" weather

Miami's Ultra Music Festival was temporarily evacuated on Friday (March 22) due to "severe weather."

The three-day festival, which took place in downtown Miami across March 22 - 24, was issued warnings of localised flooding and severe thunderstorms.

Organisers opened up a helpline to support festival goers with "real-time safety information" advising that they "ponchos, raincoats and boots" ahead of the beloved American EDM festival.

Thousands were forced to evacuate the sold-out festival as Tornado warnings were issued throughout Florida, moments before Dutch DJ, Hardwell was set to perform his headline set.

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Organisers revealed they were anticipating a crowd of roughly 50,000 people at Bayfront Park for this year's edition.

After the festival's official Twitter account asked crowds to exit the grounds calmly, tens of thousands flooded the surrounding area "at around 9:PM" writes CBS news.

Festivalgoers shared videos of crowds dancing in the mud following Friday's closure.

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Hardwell, who shared his disappointment at Friday's cancellation to Twitter writing "I’m crying right now, 3 months of work by the team and myself. Wow….", was able to join Armin van Buuren on stage during his set to perform their joint track, 'What Took You So Long'.

Alongside Hardwell, this year's edition of the Miami festival was set to include Calvin Harris, Martin Garrix, David Guetta, Eric Prydz, Peggy Gou, Tiësto, and Nora En Pure.

Despite the initial setback and continued alerts of severe weather, Ultra Miami was able to open gates in the mid-afternoon on Saturday with extended hours to make up for lost time.

The festival continued through till Sunday despite the mud and technical issues caused by the rain.

Elsewhere, Miami's international airport saw huge delays caused by the weather, with WPLG news reporting that 90 flights were cancelled and 204 flights were delayed.

Check out a clip from Hardwell's performance with Armin Van Buuren below.

Belle Richardson is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter