COLOMBO — An official Sri Lankan timekeeping website aimed at synchronising watches and helping locals to obey astrological instructions crashed on its first day thanks to unexpected stormy weather.

The website, www.sltime.org, was launched Monday by President Mahinda Rajapakse as a resource to help align clocks, watches and computers with Sri Lankan Standard Time, which is five and a half hours ahead of GMT.

"But too many hits and lightning affected our server and the website went down," a spokesman for the site said.

Many Sri Lankans are firm believers in astrology and regularly consult experts for advice.

The website "will make it easier for people to follow astrological advice and do things at the correct auspicious time," Trade Ministry spokesman Nipuna Ekanayake said.

© 2011 AFP