Jacqueline Howard
BBC News
Reuters
More than 100 flood warnings have been issued across the UK and a major incident declared in Greater Manchester as wind and rain hits parts of the country on the first day of 2025.
Greater Manchester Police said people became trapped in their homes without running water, while others were rescued from cars stranded in floodwaters.
Some weather warnings for wind and ice remain in place for parts of the UK – and forecaster say temperatures will plummet overnight, with snow due to roll in over the weekend.
Wednesday’s flooding and disruption came after New Year’s Eve events across the country were cancelled due to bad weather – although celebrations in Manchester and London went ahead.
Severe rainfall through the night resulted in flooding in a number of areas across Greater Manchester, the police force said.
Places affected include Bolton, Didsbury, South Manchester, Harpurhey, North Manchester, Stalybridge, Stockport and Wigan.
Two separate rescues were carried out by authorities overnight in Warrington and nearby Lymm after people became trapped in their vehicles in floodwater.
Flood waters in Stockport trapped around 400 people in their flats without electricity or running water for much of the day but evacuations are now under way.
In Didsbury, waters from the river Mersey are subsiding, which means the evacuation of 400 private homes is no longer needed, police said.
However, there are plans in place to start evacuating 500 people from a hotel in the area, the statement added.
Greater Manchester Police Ch Supt Colette Rose said nobody had been seriously injured during the floods and praised the public for cooperating with authorities and looking out for each other.
Floodwaters submerged this carpark at Meadow Mill in Stockport
Around 90mm of rain has fallen widely across north west England over the last 24 hours with over 100mm recorded on some hills in north Wales and Cumbria.
There are lane closures on several motorways and roads of north west England.
In Cheshire, the bank
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