Those looking westward yesterday and this morning might have spotted a huge ship in the Firth of Clyde - the Royal Navy's flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The visit of the Royal Navy's largest and most powerful vessel ever constructed comes ahead of returning to sea to carry out vital training and exercises to keep her ready for operations, say the Royal Navy.

Ayr Advertiser: This shot from the South Ayrshire coast is by Michał PiaseckiThis shot from the South Ayrshire coast is by Michał Piasecki

The 65,000 tonne ship departed Portsmouth on Thursday, March 10 and has been making its way up the west coast of England, Wales, and Scotland.

Its final destination is Glenmallan on Loch Long "for a routine logistics visit".

Speaking on Thursday, Captain Ian Feasey Royal Navy, commanding officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth, said: “We return to sea today as the United Kingdom’s Very High Readiness Strike Carrier for routine operational activity and training.

“The hard work of both my ship’s company and our supporting industrial partners has improved the condition of the Fleet Flagship.”

A spokesperson for the Royal Navy added: "During this short stint at sea, training will focus on individual, team and whole ship exercises as well as working with commando-carrying Merlin helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton-based 846 Naval Air Squadron.

"The ship will be conducting further exercises and training later in the year as the carrier is kept at very high readiness to deploy anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice.”

They also told how HMS Queen Elizabeth's sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, recently left Portsmouth for the Arctic, where she will lead a task force in her role as NATO command ship on Exercise Cold Response, the large-scale Norwegian-led exercises which will see 35,000 troops from 28 nations operate together in one of the harshest environments known to man.