Major incident declared as flooding hits parts of Greater Manchester after heavy rainfall

A major incident declared in Greater Manchester after flooding forced homes to be evacuated and closed train lines and roads after heavy rainfall.

Mountain rescue teams supported Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service deal with damaged properties and stranded vehicles.

The North West saw heavy rain on Wednesday, which comes after the Met Office said some parts of the North West saw almost a month’s worth of rain within 48 hours.

Stockport, Bolton, Didsbury, Harpurhey, Stalybridge and Wigan - with large parts of Lancashire and Cheshire also hit on New Year's Day.

Honister Pass in Cumbria saw nearly 6in (150mm) of rain, while Rochdale in Greater Manchester had 3in (77mm).

Affected areas still under monitoring are Didsbury, Stockport, Trafford and Wigan.

Plans were in place on Wednesday evening to start evacuating about 500 people from a Didsbury hotel, while 400 homes were at a lower risk with no widespread evacuation needed, police said.

About 400 occupants of a block of flats in Meadow Mill, Stockport, were also due to be evacuated on Wednesday.

Chief Superintendent Colette Rose said: “We are continuing to monitor the whole of Greater Manchester as we look to co-ordinate the emergency response involving a variety of services.

“Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have been key to this to ensure we can keep those people and communities safe after the severe weather we have had.

“Thankfully, due to the efforts of all involved so far, no-one has been seriously injured or come to harm and we would like to thank members of the public for their continued co-operation, especially around the road closures in place and looking out for each other.

“Anyone still affected should continue to check the relevant detail being shared by their local council, the fire service and Transport for Greater Manchester to ensure they can get the support available that may be needed.”

Floods minister Emma Hardy said she met officials from the Environment Agency on Wednesday to “ensure that impacted communities are receiving the necessary support” and added she wants to “express my heartfelt thanks for the vital work that the Environment Agency and emergency services are doing to keep people safe”.

She added: “The Government is working at pace to accelerate the building of flood defences through our new Floods Resilience Taskforce, so we can continue to protect people and their homes.”

Councillor Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “We have been working closely with the police, fire service and Environment Agency through the night to monitor water levels across the city – and provide support and guidance to our residents who might be affected.

“Some residents have been asked to evacuate where the Environment Agency has issued flood warnings, and these residents have been contacted directly and supported.

“Thankfully we are seeing signs that water levels are beginning to fall, and it is unlikely that further evacuations will be necessary.

“However, water levels will continue to be monitored over the coming hours.”

Tom Coulthard, a geography professor at the University of Hull from Didsbury, south Manchester, said they have had 70 to 80mm in the Greater Manchester region after measuring it on a rain gauge at his home.

“It started raining heavily at about 5 or 6pm on Tuesday evening, and then it just rained hard all night,” Prof Coulthard told the PA news agency.

“All the local rivers and water courses have sort of filled up and flooded around the area.

“All around this part of south Manchester, Cheadle, bits of Cheshire, there’s been local flooding. Roads closed. The motorway was closed, the M60, the M56 to Manchester Airport, that was all closed off.

“The last record level was set in Didsbury in February 2022, these record levels in the rivers around here are tumbling every year or every couple of years.

“That’s really probably a sign of just how our weather is changing, how climate is shifting this.

“This is in line with all sorts of the predictions that people in my profession have been talking about for 20 years or more, the impacts of climate change will be sort of warmer, wetter winters.”

Prof Coulthard said that while his home was not impacted by the flooding, a local hotel was evacuated at 5am on Wednesday morning.

He added: “We’re some distance above the river, so we’re OK. We have friends who’ve had some very close escapes last night.”

A total of 90 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, were in place for England on Wednesday afternoon, with nine for Wales and 15 for Scotland.

Ben Lukey, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said “significant inland flooding” is possible after “heavy and persistent rain” and river levels will remain high across parts of the north of England until Thursday.

He said: “Environment Agency teams will be out on the ground, operating flood defences, taking action to reduce the impact of flooding, issuing flood warnings and supporting those communities affected.

“We advise anyone travelling or out celebrating the new year to be especially careful and urge people to stay away from swollen rivers and not to drive through floodwater as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.”

A number of train routes have been disrupted or blocked by flooding, mainly in the north west of England, with some Northern services, TransPennine Express services, Transport for Wales services, and South Western Railway services affected.

National Highways said a section of the A628 Woodhead Pass between Woolley Bridge and Flouch is closed due to flooding, as is the westbound M56 between Junction 6 for Manchester Airport and Junction 8 for Bowdon.

Elsewhere - other parts of the region have also been affected.

In Lancashire - areas including Preston, Rossendale, Garstang and Lancaster were the worst hit.

Homes have been left flooded in Ormskirk and Ribchester while roads in many areas are 'impassable' due to flood waters.

Ormskirk Civic Hall said it was opening for any residents affected.

"The kettle is on and everyone is very welcome," a post on Facebook said.

Meanwhile, a yellow warning for ice has been issued from 4pm on Wednesday until 10am on Thursday, covering Northern Ireland, parts of North Wales, England and Scotland, which could also lead to difficult travel conditions.

And a three-day yellow warning for snow has been issued for almost all of England and Wales and parts of Scotland this weekend as the Met Office warned that rural communities could become cut off.

Schools could potentially be closed and there is a chance of power cuts and road closures as well as delays and cancellations to flights and trains, the forecaster said.

A yellow warning is in place from noon on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers all regions of England other than the South West, the majority of Wales and parts of southern Scotland.

About 5cm of snow is expected widely across the Midlands, Wales and northern England, with as much as 20-30cm over high ground in Wales and/or the Pennines, the forecaster added.

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “At the moment we’ve issued a very large snow warning for Saturday until Monday but it doesn’t mean that everywhere within that warning could see snow, it’s just a heads-up there could be some impacts.”