Floods lead to major incident being declared in Manchester Police say they are supporting clean-up operations which taking place following floods across Greater Manchester in Bolton, Didsbury, Harpurhey, Stalybridge, Stockport and Wigan - along with the Environment Agency, National Highways and the fire service. Emergency services are receiving reports of “damage, risk to life and stranded vehicles”. Chief Superintendent Colette Rose with the Greater Manchester Police said: Following events overnight a major incident has been declared. This is to ensure we can continue to keep people safe through a co-ordinated effort from our collective emergency services, supported by key partner agencies. Anyone affected should 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, which include any road closures and information centres for those displaced. It is advised to travel if it is only necessary and to take care if out and about. Our officers with the fire service are in the key locations and can be spoken to if you need anything urgently, as we understand the distress those affected will be faced with as we begin 2025. It will be a continued team effort as we monitor how the weather and water levels progress throughout today.” We are closing this blog now. Stay dry, stay safe and have a happy new year! A three-day heavy snow warning has been issued by the Met Office as thousands of households mopped up after torrential new year rain led to flooded properties, travel chaos and power cuts. Temperatures could plunge to well below freezing at the weekend with up to a foot of snow across England, Scotland and Wales – leading to rural areas being cut off, schools closures and 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 noon because of flooding caused by a dramatic overnight downpour… Bristol City Council and St Mungo’s charity are providing emergency support to rough sleepers due to the severe weather. In a post on X, the council said it has activated its “severe weather emergency protocol” which will see more outreach shifts, where rough sleepers are identified and linked up with accommodation. According to the UK Security Agency Cold weather periods often increase the number of homeless deaths. “People sleeping rough are at greater risk from cold weather than others. Sleeping rough increases the risk of cold-related illness and death.” Greater Manchester has been impacted by the most severe bouts of flooding on New Year’s Day, and a cold snap is forecast for the weekend. A spokesperson from Manchester City Council says help will be available but “there’s nothing above and beyond what we always do. There is always support in place all year round regardless. There is a support service stepped up, but there is nothing above and beyond.” On the council’s website, Councillor Joanna Midgley, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council said: “We work year-round to help people off the streets, giving them access to the support they need to help them get on with their lives. However, as it gets colder, people are more likely to accept help and come inside. This is why we expand our outreach offer and our officers, along with partner agencies, work into the early hours seeking out people who have bedded down so that we can offer them the opportunity to come indoors and access additional support. This is especially important as sometimes coming inside in cold weather is the impetus that they need to accept help that we, along with our partners, can provide. It is often the first step on the road to a better, healthier future.” Greater Manchester bore the brunt of flooding on the first day of 2025. Here are some pictures from a soaking wet New Year’s Day: Summary of the day so far… Major incident declared in Greater Manchester after heavy flooding in the region. Police say they are supporting clean-up operations which taking place following floods across Greater Manchester in Bolton, Didsbury, Harpurhey, Stalybridge, Stockport and Wigan - along with the Environment Agency, National Highways and the fire service. Emergency services are receiving reports of “damage, risk to life and stranded vehicles”. The Environment Agency has issued more than 150 flood warnings across the UK as wind and rain is poised to bombard much of the country on 2025’s maiden day. New Year’s Eve events across the country were cancelled due to bad weather - although celebrations in Manchester and London went ahead. Met Office issues three-day snow warning for almost all of England and parts of Scotland this weekend. A yellow warning is in place from 12pm on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers all regions of England other than the south west. Wales will be affected as will parts of southern Scotland. Greater Manchester was covered with red flood warnings from the Environment Agency. An amber warning for rain remains in force in northern and eastern parts of the region; the rest of Greater Manchester hit with a yellow weather warning. A train firm has told railway passengers in northern England not to travel due to severe flooding. TransPennine Express says Greater Manchester and Cheshire are the worst affected areas. Passengers were urged not to travel until the afternoon. Multiple flood alerts are also in force across Merseyside. A mountain rescue team is in attendance at Meadow Mill in Stockport, where residents have been trapped due to a flood, the Manchester Evening News reports. Flooding has submerged many of the cars parked outside the block flats. Rescuers are working to release residents. Wales was battered by heavy rain and high winds this morning, with major disruptions to travel across roads and railways. Landslips, flooding, and power cuts have been reported. Over the last two days parts of the North West of England have experienced around a month’s worth of rain, Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan says. “There’s still probably likely to be further flooding across the course of the day, I’m expecting further issues this afternoon,” Morgan said. “We are potentially expecting the flood situation to get worse before it gets better.” Wigan Athletic’s game against Huddersfield Town has been postponed due to flooding, the club had just announced. Latics told fans that heavy rainfall on New Year’s Eve had made roads in the area dangerous to drive. “Safety concerns regarding the public areas surrounding the ground and the strain on local emergency services dealing with a number of major incidents, which have been affected by severe flooding, led to the league fixture being called off,” the League One side said. Meanwhile, Rochdale v Altrincham has been postponed in the National League, and Chorley v Buxton in National League North. Massive sink hole opens up in Hyde, Greater Manchester. National Rail issues warning as travel disruption continues National Rail has warned anybody travelling today that the weather will affect Transport for Wales services until tomorrow “Flooding is causing disruption to a number of routes across the Transport for Wales network. Trains may be cancelled, delayed or diverted,” a spokesperson said. Flooding between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Oxford Road has blocked all lines. Trains running between these stations will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 3pm. Flooding between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly has disrupted all lines. Trains are now able to run, however, at a reduced speed. As a result of this, trains may be cancelled or revised. Disruption through St Albans is expected until 3pm and further north, no trains are expected between Cleethorpes and Barton-on-Humber until 4.30pm. Lines have reopened between Shotton and Bidston. Trains running between these stations may still be cancelled whilst services recover. Unmitigated climate change will increase the likelihood of extreme weather events like the high winds and flooding being experienced across the UK today. In May last year, Dr Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and co-founder of WWA, told the Guardian that: “To put it bluntly, climate change is already making life shittier. Wetter winters are flooding farms, cancelling football matches, overflowing sewage systems and [making] groceries more expensive. “Thankfully, we know the solutions. Replace oil, gas and coal with cleaner, cheaper renewable sources of energy; insulate homes, and restore nature. All this will make life cheaper and better for all, not more expensive.” Extreme weather also hits people hard in their pockets, with previous storms and flooding causing weather-related home insurance claims to rocket by over a third, reaching a record-breaking £573m worth of claims. Around 15% of the general population does not have insurance, with many unable to afford it. East Midlands trains have stopped running between Liverpool and Manchester The rail operator has reported that flooding remains between Manchester Oxford Road and Widnes. Trains on the Liverpool / Nottingham / Norwich route have ceased operations between Manchester and Liverpool. Arrangements are in place with other operators to keep travellers on the move. A mountain rescue team is in attendance at Meadow Mill in Stockport, where residents have been trapped due to a flood, the Manchester Evening News reports. Flooding has submerged many of the cars parked outside the block flats. Rescuers are working to release residents. Dexter, a resident of the building has told Sky News that emergency services have advised him it’s safer to stay in the building - which has no power - rather than be rescued. He says they were told they would be rescued but have since been informed that it’s better to wait for the flooding to subside Cross county League One clash postponed due to flooding Wigan Athletic’s game against Huddersfield Town has been postponed due to flooding, the club had just announced. Latics told fans that heavy rainfall on New Year’s Eve had made roads in the area dangerous to drive. “Safety concerns regarding the public areas surrounding the ground and the strain on local emergency services dealing with a number of major incidents, which have been affected by severe flooding, led to the league fixture being called off,” the League One side said. “Access to the area is severely restricted with many access routes closed due to flooding, and the emergency services are unable to provide resources to support the matchday operation. “The news is naturally disappointing as Shaun Maloney and his players were looking forward to the highly-anticipated New Year’s Day fixture, but the safety of both sets of supporters is of paramount importance.” The club added that a new date for the match would be announced in “due course.” All tickets for today’s postponed match will remain valid. Meanwhile, Rochdale v Altrincham has been postponed in the National League, and Chorley v Buxton in National League North. Here’s some pictures from London’s soaking wet New Year’s Day parade: More from the Met Office’s meteorologist Tom Morgan on this weekend’s incoming snow: 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.” Here’s more on the warning for snow issued by Met Office for this weekend Here’s some more pictures of today’s flooding: Floods lead to major incident being declared in Manchester Police say they are supporting clean-up operations which taking place following floods across Greater Manchester in Bolton, Didsbury, Harpurhey, Stalybridge, Stockport and Wigan - along with the Environment Agency, National Highways and the fire service. Emergency services are receiving reports of “damage, risk to life and stranded vehicles”. Chief Superintendent Colette Rose with the Greater Manchester Police said: Following events overnight a major incident has been declared. This is to ensure we can continue to keep people safe through a co-ordinated effort from our collective emergency services, supported by key partner agencies. Anyone affected should 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, which include any road closures and information centres for those displaced. It is advised to travel if it is only necessary and to take care if out and about. Our officers with the fire service are in the key locations and can be spoken to if you need anything urgently, as we understand the distress those affected will be faced with as we begin 2025. It will be a continued team effort as we monitor how the weather and water levels progress throughout today.” Snow set to hit Wales this weekend The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow due to hit Wales this weekend The weather agency forecasts: Outbreaks of rain spreading northeastwards later on Saturday and overnight into Sunday will likely be preceded by a spell of snow on its northern flank. Whilst there is a fair bit of uncertainty as to how far north this may spread, and how long any snow will last, significant accumulations of snow are possible, especially (but not exclusively) on hills. Currently parts of the Midlands, Wales, and northern England are most at risk of disruption, where 5cm or more could accumulate fairly widely with perhaps as much as 20-30 cm over high ground of Wales and/or the Pennines. This, accompanied by strengthening winds, may lead to drifting of lying snow. In addition, as milder air attempts to move northwards into southern and central areas, snow may turn to a spell of freezing rain for a time, adding to the risk of ice. If milder air is able to spread more bodily northwards any snow in southern parts of the warning area may be relatively short-lived before turning to rain. Given the uncertainties it is quite likely this warning area and start/end times will be refined over the coming days as confidence increases in areas most likely to be impacted. Almost all of England could be hit by snow this weekend Met Office issues three-day snow warning for almost all of England and parts of Scotland this weekend. A yellow warning is in place from 12pm on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers all regions of England other than the south west. Wales will be affected as will parts of southern Scotland. The Met Office has warned that rural communities could become cut off. There is also a small chance of power cuts and disruption to mobile phone coverage, as well as delays and cancellations to flights, trains and other transport. Nine million homes will face higher energy bills from Wednesday as Britain braces for freezing temperatures and snow warnings for the new year period. The average energy bill for households across England, Scotland and Wales will rise by 1.2% from New Year’s Day to £1,738 a year for a typical household after the energy regulator raised its cap on gas and electricity charges. The rising price cap is expected to pile pressure on household finances during the coldest months of the year when millions of homes have already racked up record levels of debt to their energy suppliers… Snow incoming across Scotland and rain to continue in England Up to 10cm of snowfall is possible in hilly regions around the UK. 3cm likely at low levels as the snow moves south on Wednesday morning. It will snow throughout the afternoon, overnight and into Thursday morning, the Met Office said. Central and southern Scotland will see below freezing temperatures by late afternoon, reaching as low as -5C overnight. “Overnight temperatures will widely fall below freezing, perhaps reaching minus double digits in areas of Scotland already covered in snow,” it warned. This could lead to icy roads and pavements leading to further travel disruption and risk of injuries “from slips and falls on icy surfaces”. Meanwhile, the rain across northern England and Wales is showing no sign of going away. The forecaster says: “Wintry showers are expected to affect the far north and east at times, but away from these, sunshine will be much more widespread than in recent days.