A HUGE cargo plane was forced to divert away from Glasgow due to severe weather.

The Cargolux flight CLX25N is a routine scheduled cargo flight between Luxembourg and Glasgow Prestwick.

But on Wednesday, the aircraft instead diverted over 170 miles away.

After departing Luxembourg at 12.38pm local time on Wednesday, the aircraft headed in a north-westerly direction to Glasgow Prestwick. 

A satellite image from FlightRadar24 shows the plane turn around above Prestwick and head back south, circling above the Yorkshire Dales before landing at Manchester. 

The National:

This diversion is rare for the airport as a Boeing 747 has not operated in or out of the airfield in quite some time, reports AviationSource News. 

It is understood the diversion was due to weather, with the weather report at the time of diversion indicating very strong winds and rain to the point of it being a risk for the crew to approach.

Manchester Airport confirmed that the aircraft had landed there, while Prestwick Airport confirmed that the diversion was due to the weather.