First tests of HMS Prince of Wales capabilities

HMS Prince of Wales is due to head to its home port of Portsmouth next month

Britain's newest and largest warship has completed a series of tests off Scotland's north east coast.

The aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is undergoing sea trials in the Moray Firth and North Sea.

The latest exercises included the first test of its long-range radar, tracking two Typhoon jets flown out of RAF Lossiemouth in Moray.

It also made its first port visit, to Invergordon in the Highlands, to refuel and take on supplies.

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Among the other first-time tests was an exercise in an area of the ship called the citadel.

This supposedly impregnable, self-contained "heart" of the aircraft carrier is where sailors are protected from the effects of chemical, nuclear and biological weapons.

The £3bn HMS Prince of Wales is the second of two new aircraft carriers constructed at Rosyth in Fife.

The first of the ships, HMS Queen Elizabeth, conducted sea trials in the Moray Firth and North Sea in 2017.

HMS Prince of Wales, slightly heavier than the first carrier, is expected to make further brief visits to Invergordon before heading to its home port of Portsmouth next month.