People living in affected area should ‘be prepared’
A flood alert is in place for the Upper River Irwell this morning(Image: Environment Agency)
A flood alert has been issued across four Greater Manchester boroughs this morning amid a Met Office rain warning. The alert has been issued for the Upper River Irwell in parts of Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale and Bury. The Environment Agency said rising river levels overnight ‘may lead to flooding’.
The situation is currently being monitored after heavy rainfall overnight, with more rain expected throughout the day today (Monday). The area affected by the flood alert includes the Rivers Beal, Roch and Croal, Limey Water and their tributaries, the Environment Agency said.
Other areas affected are likely to be in Farnworth, Whitefield, Little Lever, Radcliffe, Bury, Heywood, Whitworth and Bacup. People living close to areas covered by the flood alert should ‘be prepared’.
People have been advised to keep checking the alert for updates and ‘be ready to follow a flood plan’. The alert comes as a yellow weather warning issued by the Met Office remains in force today.
The warning for rain is set to last all day today, with all of our ten boroughs set to be affected by a deluge of rain. According to the Met Office there is not expected to be any respite, apart from when heavy downpours become lighter into the evening.
It follows wet weather on Sunday, a theme which is also expected to continue for much of the coming week. The weather agency warned between 40-60mm of rain could fall widely across the warning area by the end of Monday, with 100 mm across some high ground.
More heavy rain is due to fall today(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
In a blog post, issued on the Met Office website on Friday (December 12), Jonathan Day, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Significant surface water flooding impacts are possible in parts of the North of England on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There are also possible significant river flooding impacts in parts of the North of England on Sunday and Monday, with minor flooding impacts possible more widely across northern England over the weekend.
“Environment Agency teams are out on the ground, taking action to reduce the impact of flooding and support those communities affected. We urge people not to drive though flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning of rain for parts of the country (Image: Met Office )
“People should search ‘check my flood risk’, get free flood warnings, and keep up to date with the latest situation at @EnvAgency on X.”
Alongside the yellow weather warning for rain covering Greater Manchester and much of the north west, an amber rain warning is also in place across Cumbria. Yellow warnings are also in place across west Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of Wales.