The road has been hit with several flooding incidents since it was completed.
18:12, 19 Nov 2025Updated 18:37, 19 Nov 2025
Flooding on the A555 Airport Relief Road after Storm Claudia (Credit: Ryan Jenkinson / Manchester Evening News)
Flooding on the A555 has caused misery for residents in Greater Manchester yet again. It closed over the weekend in the midst of Storm Claudia in both directions between the Bramhall Oil Terminal junction and the A34 at Handforth.
But the road was shut again last night (November 18) as water poured onto the carriageway again, causing major delays on roads in Stockport and Cheshire. These incidents followed problems in January after heavy rain hit the region, and left part of the A555 under water and cars trapped.
Flooding also hit the road in 2023 in the face of torrential rain, when drivers were seen slowly wading through the water. Since the A555 was completed in 2018, it has been repeatedly hit with flooding problems.
The road itself stretches from Cheshire and the A6 through Stockport and over to Manchester Airport. But why does it keep flooding and how can these issues be fixed?
Stockport council said sections of the road are facing different challenges. The closure on Tuesday night on safety grounds was caused by damage from Storm Claudia over the weekend, which battered the region with heavy rain and winds.
Drivers have faced disruption from flooding on the A555 (Credit: Ryan Jenkinson / Manchester Evening News)
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This caused severe debris, and a fallen tree blocked a drainage channel at the A555, leading to another flood. The incident was described as sudden and isolated, and took place in a location that was difficult to reach, needing the help of drones to locate and assess the situation.
More generally, the impact of climate change and intense rain becoming more regular have been put down as potential causes of flooding, the town hall said, which is putting major pressure on the drains. Stockport council said work is already being developed to address the situation, including a wider drainage improvement programme being planned for next year.
It is working on the issues with Manchester council and Cheshire East council, who share responsibility for sections of the A555. A Stockport council spokesperson said: “We’re sorry for the disruption caused by the partial closure of the A555.
“Keeping the road safe is our priority, and our teams worked at pace to clear the obstruction and reopen the route this afternoon ahead of evening rush hour. We know there are longstanding challenges along the A555, and we are already developing a wider programme of improvements alongside Manchester City Council and Cheshire East Council as part of the ongoing maintenance of this vital route.
“Recent periods of heavy rainfall have been managed well, but the impact of Storm Claudia caused an unexpected and challenging blockage that required a temporary closure for safety.”
Stockport council’s cabinet member for highways and transport said the town hall has invested heavily in the road (Image: Declan Carey)
Cheadle MP Tom Morrison said the drainage systems ‘should have been designed and built to handle the water flow in this area’, and called for ‘urgent action to address these issues and get this sorted out properly.’
He added: “The repeated flooding and closure of the A555 is causing real frustration for local residents who rely on this route daily. People are fed up with the disruption to their journeys and the impact it’s having on local businesses and communities.”
Lib Dem Councillor Grace Baynham is the cabinet member for highways and transport at Stockport council.
She said: “The A555 has indeed faced challenges, particularly with the bankruptcy of the contractor Carillion under the previous Conservative government, which undoubtedly contributed to issues on the road for the Labour administration who were leading the council at the time.
“I’m keen we find practical solutions, our focus should be on urging the government to allocate funding for improving flood defences, ensuring that we’re better prepared for future incidents and the higher intensity and frequency of rainfall we see with climate change.
“Since the completion of the A555, the council has invested heavily in a series of works to improve its resilience, and there is an additional series of works to come. Stockport council was given a nominal £12,000 per annum in revenue funding by the Conservative government to take on more responsibility for flooding, yet the true cost to the council of flooding has been many millions of pounds.
“After the floods in January, the Labour government decided not to provide the council with the flood recovery grant, meaning no extra funding was provided to the council to support work done to deal with the damage of flooding.
“This is coupled with a decade of local authorities around the country suffering from underfunding, reducing resilience and opportunities to make improvements.”
Peter Crossen, a Conservative Councillor for Bramhall South and Woodford, demanded a public inquiry into flooding on the A555. He accused Stockport council of ‘excuses’ for not doing more to tackle the problems on the A555.
“Enough is enough, for the fourth time this year, residents across Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme and Woodford have woken up to complete gridlock, people unable to get to work, families stranded, and zero information on when the chaos will end,” Coun Crossen said.
He also called to stop all new housebuilding in his ward until the flooding issues are resolved.
“Developers circle Bramhall South and Woodford, and the local plan dumps 16 per cent of Stockport’s entire housing target on our area for the next 15 years,” he added. “We deserve answers before they build a single extra house.
“I’m calling for a full public inquiry into the building and ongoing management of the A555, the most notorious, mismanaged, problem-ridden stretch of road in Greater Manchester. Year after year, the council offers excuses, year after year, nothing changes.
“Before this council piles thousands more homes onto an already broken system while carving up our green belt we need the truth.
“Residents in Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme and Woodford will not be ignored. We need answers now, not after the damage is done.”
In response, Coun Baynham said: “I don’t think a costly public inquiry now into past events would be beneficial for the taxpayers. It might sound good from a Tory soapbox but action speaks louder than words.”
The Department for Transport was contacted for comment.