The Met Office has issued a three-day heavy snow warning as thousands of households mop up after torrential new year rain led to flooded properties, travel chaos and power cuts.
Temperatures could drop to well below freezing at the weekend with up to 30cm (1ft) of snow across England, Scotland and Wales – leading to rural areas being cut off, schools closing and to road, rail and flight problems, forecasters said.
The warning was issued on what was a miserable start to 2025 for many parts of the UK, including Greater Manchester, where a major incident was declared at midday because of flooding caused by a dramatic overnight downpour.
Mountain rescue teams were deployed to help firefighters deal with people trapped in flooded properties and stranded vehicles.
Plans were in place on Wednesday evening to start evacuating about 500 people from a Didsbury hotel, police said.
People in flats in a converted mill in Stockport were unable to leave and were without running water and electricity after the car park and ground floor were almost completely submerged.
About 400 occupants of the flats were due to be evacuated on Wednesday.
Helen Scott, who lives on the top floor, told the BBC: “Can’t get in, can’t get out, the fire brigade are here.”
But she was stoical: “The fact I’ve still got a couple of proseccos still in me has taken the edge of this situation. Give me a couple of hours and I think the horror of the start of 2025 is going to sink in.”
Greater Manchester police said the worst-affected areas were Bolton, Didsbury, Harpurhey, Stalybridge, Stockport and Wigan. Trains were cancelled, sections of the M56 and M57 motorways were closed and people advised to travel only if necessary.
Floods minister Emma Hardy said she met officials from the Environment Agency on Wednesday to “ensure that impacted communities are receiving the necessary support”.
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 on. Wednesday: “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.”
There were reports of flooded properties in other parts of the north-west including Clitheroe, Ormskirk and Ribchester in Lancashire.
Rivers were high everywhere but there was relief when the rain widely stopped at about 9am. At Whaley Bridge in the Peak District, the River Goyt was visibly swollen but was half a metre lower than when a major incident was declared in 2019 and people were told to evacuate, volunteers said.
The Met Office said some parts of the north-west had received almost a month’s worth of rain in 48 hours. Honister Pass in Cumbria had nearly 15cm (6in), while Rochdale in Greater Manchester had 7.5cm.
In other parts of England, the biggest problem on New Year’s Day was strong winds, which led to the cancellation of a number of events, including charity dips.
At Heathrow airport, 36 flights were cancelled as the gusty conditions forced authorities to reduce the rate of arrivals.
London’s annual New Year’s Day parade went ahead, albeit delayed by 30 minutes in wet and windy conditions. It was also without inflatable cartoon characters, which in previous years have included a giant Garfield and a 21-metre (68ft) Mighty Mouse.
After the rain, there is likely to be snow and ice. The yellow snow warning runs from midday on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers an area from Edinburgh to the south coast. Only some coastal fringes and the south-west of England are not included.
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 the Pennines.
The 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.
“It’s definitely going to start off as snow in many places, but it’s a question of how quickly that snow melts and turns back to rain. It’s more likely that the snow won’t last that long in southern England.
“It’s quite likely the warning will be updated quite frequently between now and the weekend. Certainly if you’ve got travel plans on Sunday, and perhaps Monday, stay tuned into the forecast.”
As well as the weekend snow warning, the Met Office issued a yellow ice warning for Scotland, north Wales and northern England between Wednesday afternoon and 10am Thursday.
Rain, sleet and freezing temperatures could lead to icy patches on roads and pavements and hazardous travel conditions, forecasters said.
The warning is in addition to a yellow weather warning for snow and ice that covers the Highlands and Grampian regions until 10am Thursday.
By Wednesday evening, 40 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected – were in place in England, 11 in Scotland and four in Wales.
Ben Lukey, the flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said significant inland flooding was possible after heavy and persistent rain. River levels would remain high in parts of northern England until Thursday.
Source: theguardian.com
