The search for a helicopter that's gone missing over the Irish Sea has been partially suspended.

Five people were on board the privately-owned aircraft, which left Milton Keynes en route to Dublin.

UPDATE Aerial search efforts hampered by low cloud + poor visibility. @NWPolice + #MountainRescue continue to search https://t.co/ItQ7QEHsNR

— Maritime&Coastguard (@MCA_media) March 29, 2017

Radar contact was lost and a search operation was launched shortly after 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon.

Coastguard operations are being hampered by bad weather, with visibility l

An extensive search centered around the Irish Sea and Snowdonia area has been carried out by the two UK Coastguard search and rescue helicopters.

North Wales Police have taken over the search operation and have called in Mountain Rescue Teams to continue the land based search in the Snowdonia area.

ow.