Weather warnings for North West England

Rain, prolonged and occasionally heavy, will affect the North West during Thursday. This will gradually ease overnight and clear away by Friday morning.

A number of warnings are in force across the North West. Driving conditions will be hazardous. Winds will be strong enough to brings some leaves down. Local flooding is likely, especially in the Amber warning area.

YELLOW - BE AWARE - Until 6am Friday morning

Some areas have already seen 20-30 mm of rain, with similar amounts expected over quite a wide area during the rest of Thursday and into the early hours of Friday.

A further 40-60mm is possible, making rainfall in some areas reaching towards 80-100 mm in a few locations over high ground through the warning period - see Amber warning.

The rain will be accompanied by strengthening northeasterly winds, which may lead to significant leaf fall and impede drainage in places.

Amber - Be Prepared Warning from Met Office clips into east part of the Granada region Credit: Met Office

AMBER: Until 6am Friday morning

For Greater Manchester and Derbyshire it is more likely that 40 to 60 mm rain will fall quite widely, with 80 to 100 mm possible over high ground.

For the very latest warning updates for the UK visit the Met Office