HMS Queen Elizabeth to sail back into Portsmouth this morning

The 65,000-tonne carrier - Britain’s biggest warship ever built - is due to sail into the city’s harbour shortly after 8.45am.

The aircraft carrier is returning from her latest series of work-ups and trials, with her crew stretching their sea legs after months in dock.

During her brief stint away she undertook her first replenishment at sea - a key milestone in the carrier’s development.

The News will be covering the carrier’s arrival on Facebook Live, and you can watch it live on this web page or on our Facebook page.

She is expected to remain in Portsmouth until deploying to the United States in the summer.

No official date has been announced by the Royal Navy for this, but sources have said this could be as early as the end of August.

The 65,000-tonne behemoth’s visit will see her carrying out vital trials with the F-35B, Britain’s new stealth jet.

The state-of-the-art jets will be put through their paces taking off and landing on the aircraft carrier’s expansive flight deck.

As part of the trip across the Atlantic, HMS Queen Elizabeth is also expected to make a stop in Manhattan, the defence secretary Gavin Williamson told The News earlier this year.