It was a sad day across the village as Cain broke the news of Zak’s death to the rest of the Dingles

ITV Emmerdale fans have warned viewers to ‘bring the tissues’ ahead of tonight’s emotional episode.

As viewers will know, in last night’s episode it was revealed that Zak Dingle has sadly passed away as Moira broke the news to her husband Cain Dingle. Zak had been up in Scotland staying with his granddaughter Debbie. Last year, actor Steve Haliwell, who first started playing Zak in 1994, died at the age of 77.

The heartbreaking scenes continue in tonight’s episode of the ITV soap as Cain breaks the news to the rest of the Dingle family. He went to visit them in person, first breaking the news to Belle and Sam, before visiting Charity and Sarah, and then Chaz and Marlon at the Woolpack.

Emotional music was played in the background, as each of the characters could be seen reacting to the news, with Vinny and Mandy the final members of the Dingle clan to find out.

The Dingle family then all gathered together at the farm to grieve the passing of their family patriarch. Later in the episode, Cain, Sam and Belle all gathered outside, as an emotional Belle said: “I want my dad, I want him.” The trio shared fond memories of Zak, as Belle said: “At least he’s with mum now.”

The sadness was felt across the entire village. Later in the episode, the villagers gathered on Main Street as they waved Sam and Cain off as they left to drive to Aberdeen to collect Zak’s body.

Viewers of the ITV soap were up early to watch the episode, which has been available on ITV Hub since 7am this morning. They took to social media to describe the scenes as ‘heartbreaking’ and warned other viewers to ‘get tissues ready’ if they’re waiting until the usual time of 7.30pm to tune in.

@OMG_its_tasha_ said: “If you’re going to watch @emmerdale tonight, get tissues ready, it’s so sad #emmerdale.” @Sir_Jeffers7 wrote: “Just watched tonight’s episode #Emmerdale all I’m gonna say is heartbreaking. bring tissues.”

@RyanTheSoapKing said: “Cain passes on the news to Dingles on a sad day for the family and the village at large. Cain and Sam find Belle outside and they share memories. Later the villagers gather on Main Street as they wave Sam and Cain off to collect Zak’s body.”

@AndreaJackGoro shared an image of Steve Halliwell, who played Zak Dingle on the soap, with the text: “Sadly missed, Zack Dingal #SteveHalliwell #Emmerdale.”