The Environment Agency issued a flood risk warning tonight ahead of heavy rainfall and high winds forecast across the north west on New Year’s Eve.
It urged residents across Greater Manchester to sign up for free flood warnings amid a Met Office ‘yellow’ alert which has said some exposed areas could be hit by up to 10cm of rain and winds up to 60mph.
The Met Office alert, which ends at 11am tomorrow, urges people to prepare for ‘persistent and at times heavy rainfall’.
The Environment Agency says it will issue specific localised flood alerts and warnings ‘as necessary’ throughout the period and has officers out on the ground ‘to reduce the risk of flooding’.
People are being urged to check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation.
Stefan Laeger, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Heavy and persistent rain tonight and into tomorrow means river levels are likely to be high across the North of England, Pennines and parts of the Midlands until the end of the week, with significant inland flooding possible until Thursday and minor impacts possible on Friday.
“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 flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.
“People should search ‘check my flood risk’, sign up for free flood warnings, and keep up to date with the latest situation at @EnvAgency on X.”
The Met Office has issued five yellow weather warnings and one more severe amber warning across the UK for today (December 31). One of those yellow weather warnings affects Greater Manchester, from 3pm today until 11am tomorrow (January 1).
Cheshire, parts of Lancashire, Merseyside, Yorkshire, the Midlands and most of Wales are also covered by the alert. In these areas, the Met Office is warning that ‘heavy rain is likely to lead to disruption’ with ‘a chance of flooding in some locations’.
Every borough of Greater Manchester is forecast for heavy rain by the Met Office. Overcast conditions are expected to make way for light rain at around midday today, before downpours begin from around 1pm.
In Manchester, the forecast is for heavy rain throughout the New Year’s Eve celebrations and well beyond midnight, before easing to light rain at 9am tomorrow. Some areas, including Trafford, could see rain ease by 8am – while others, such as Oldham, could face downpours until 10am.
The region will see temperatures hit highs of 11C today in Manchester, with lows of 5C in the city overnight, dropping to 3C in parts of Oldham. Some gusty winds of up to 48 mph will also affect Greater Manchester this morning and early afternoon, with gusts slowing down to the mid 30s tonight.
Temperatures will plummet across Greater Manchester in the coming days. Manchester will see highs of 7C on New Year’s Eve, dropping to -1C overnight.
Thursday (December 1) will see highs of 2C in the city and lows of -3C, the Met Office says. Areas including Bolton, Oldham and Rochdale will see temperatures climbing no higher than 1C on Thursday, and lows of -4C in some locations.
Nationally, the Met Office has issued seven yellow weather warnings and one amber weather warning for this week, with the alerts being updated earlier today. This is the full list of warnings for the UK:
- Amber warning for heavy rain in part of northern Scotland until 5pm today
- Yellow warning for wind in Northern Ireland until 2pm today
- Yellow warning for wind in Cumbria, the North East and southern Scotland until 11pm today
- Yellow warning for snow in the north-east Scottish isles until 11.59pm today
- Yellow warning for rain and snow in northern Scotland until 4am tomorrow
- Yellow warning for rain in much of the North West, Midlands and Wales from 3pm today to 11am tomorrow
- Yellow warning for wind from 12.15am until 3am tomorrow in the Midlands, South and Wales
- Yellow warning for snow and ice in northern Scotland from 4am tomorrow to 9am on Thursday.