Storm Christoph: Boris vows to help every part of the UK get ‘totally prepared’ with flooding

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Boris Johnson tonight vowed to help every part of Britain get ‘totally prepared’ as Storm Christoph wreaks havoc on the country’s roads, railways and homes – and is set to get worse next week. 

The PM, who chaired a meeting of the Government’s Cobra civil contingencies committee earlier today, said they had looked particularly at what was happening in Manchester. 

Greater Manchester Police said about 160 people will be advised to leave their homes and move into temporary accommodation  as heavy rain falls, with many rivers at ‘dangerously high levels’.

‘We have got a situation potentially developing there,’ Mr Johnson told reporters. ‘We are looking at a pattern of rainfall, possibly not so bad this week but worse possibly next week.’

He said steps were being taken to ensure the transport and energy networks were prepared so that electricity outages would not be ‘severe’ and that there were sufficient supplies of sandbags.

The PM also urged people to heed the warnings if they are advised to evacuate, adding: ‘There are some times where I have been to scenes where, alas, people have decided not to obey the advice and not evacuated.

‘It is their right not to do so if they choose – it’s always people’s right to stay wherever they are. ‘But it really is advisable – follow the advice. If you are told to leave your home then you should do so.’ 

No10 also committed to providing Covid-secure shelters should they be needed in any evacuation operation.

It comes as the Environment Agency has issued a further 113 flood warnings across England, with 218 less severe flood alerts, mainly across the Midlands and north of the country. 

More than 120mm of rain has already fallen in parts of the country, with 123.42mm at Capel Curig in North Wales in the 24 hours up to 2pm on Wednesday. Crai Reservoir in South Wales saw the second highest total, with 115.6mm, and areas in Glamorgan and Cumbria also topped 100mm over the same period.

Some 100 flood warnings have been issued by the Environment Agency across England, with 209 less severe flood alerts, mainly across the Midlands and north of the country.

Almost the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are subject to yellow weather warnings for rain until midday on Thursday, with a more serious amber warning stretching from the East Midlands to the Lake District.  

As Storm Christoph continues to lash the country:

• The Ministry of Defence said the Army is on notice to help flooded communities; 
• People were preparing for rising floodwaters in West Yorkshire this morning, with towns in the Calder Valley laying out sandbags and flood wardens monitoring water levels;
• Train operator Northern advised customers in north-west England against travelling, saying rain and flooding had led to the closure of several rail routes, while others suffered ‘significant disruption’;   
• There are suspensions on rail services from Carlisle to Skipton or Maryport, all destinations from Rotherham Central, and between Manchester and Newton le Willows;
• Rail services between Warrington Central and Liverpool Lime Street, Altrincham to Chester, and Wigan to Southport have also been suspended amid stormy weather;
• Public Health England (PHE) has issued a cold weather alert for the North East, North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber from 9am on Thursday to January 25; 
• Dr Owen Landeg, principal environmental public health scientist at PHE, urged people to ‘keep looking out’ for frail or older neighbours and relatives, particularly those living alone or with a serious illness;
• Shocking photos show a Grade II-listed Ackhurst Lodge house in Chorley, Lancashire almost totally submerged, forcing firefighters to pump out the floodwater last night; 
• Cheshire Police declared a major incident after evacuating dozens of people from houseboats.

Train operator Northern said torrential rain and flooding across the region had led to the closure of several rail routes, while others had suffered ‘significant disruption’.

The company’s regional director, Chris Jackson, said: ‘Unfortunately the situation is only getting worse and we have had to make the difficult decision to ask our customers not to travel on the Northern rail network in the North West for the rest of today.’

Mr Jackson urged commuters wishing to use the service on Thursday morning to allow extra time for travel.

Met Office forecaster Grahame Madge described Storm Christoph as ‘quite a slow-moving system’ which is bringing ‘a variety of weather’ to the UK.

The meteorologist said: ‘While rain remains the main hazard in the south, further north we’ve got snow and ice remaining a risk.

‘The system will work its way through, we are expecting significant totals of rainfall and when you combine that with snowmelt it can lead to localised flooding across the affected regions.’  

Almost the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are subject to yellow weather warnings for rain until midday on Thursday, with a more serious amber warning stretching from the East Midlands to the Lake District.

The amber alert warns of the risk of flooding and deep floodwaters which could pose a risk to life, and there are further warnings for snow and ice in Scotland.

An amber warning for snow in parts of southern Scotland warned around 30cm could fall in areas above 400m, with up to 10cm likely to accumulate in lower regions until 8am on Thursday.

It come as Manchester City Council said a severe flood warning had been issued for parts of Didsbury, Chorlton and Northenden as levels of the River Mersey continued to rise.

A spokesman for the authority said: ‘The council is working with colleagues in Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue and Environment Agency to proactively evacuate homes before any flooding has taken place, which is anticipated in the early hours of January 21. This is to ensure people’s safety.

‘All flood basins have been opened, but river levels are expected to rise this evening and the decision has been made to evacuate people in a safe and controlled way this evening, rather than waiting to assess the flooding impact overnight.’

The council said a Covid-safe emergency rest centre had been set up at leisure centre Wythenshawe Forum for anyone who was told to evacuate and had nowhere else to go. 

North Wales Police tweeted that its officers had been called to assist Denbighshire County Council and North Wales Fire & Rescue Service in Ruthin, where some homes were being evacuated, adding: ‘Regrettably, people who do not live locally are driving to the area to ‘see the floods’.’ 

Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, told MPs yesterday that its teams were out closing flood barriers and clearing drains.

He added: ‘There are no plans right now to evacuate, but that might be necessary and preparations are being made by the relevant agencies as a precaution.’      

If the situation arises, Downing Street said Covid-secure evacuation centres would be made available to those forced to leave their homes as a result of flooding.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘We are live to that issue, should evacuations be needed.

‘Preparations to create Covid-secure rest centres have been made. They have been made by relevant agencies as a precautionary measure. We will ensure Covid-secure rest centres if they are needed.

‘The important message for the public now is to continue to monitor the information that the Environment Agency are providing and sign-up for flood alerts if they haven’t already.’ 

Cheshire Police this afternoon followed Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire in declaring a major incident.

The force said 33 residents of houseboats on Hayhurst Marina in Northwich had been evacuated and offered accommodation at nearby hotels due to concerns over the level of the River Weaver.

Superintendent Simon Parsonage said: ‘We are continuing to work closely with our partners to monitor the situation and collectively we will do all we can to minimise any disruption across the county and keep people safe.

‘There are currently restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic but I want to stress that the safety of the public remains our priority and I urge anyone who is asked to evacuate to follow the guidance given so that we can ensure this is managed in a Covid-safe way.

‘We will continue to monitor the situation closely as it develops over the next 48 hours and I would urge anyone affected by flooding to keep up-to-date with the latest news on the Environment Agency website.’ 

It came as the assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester, where a major incident was declared, said up to 3,000 properties in the area could be affected by flooding caused by beset by flooding.

Speaking at an online press briefing, Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Nick Bailey said areas of Didsbury, Northenden and Sale near the River Mersey could potentially be affected by flooding, with a peak expected at 11pm on Wednesday.

He said: ‘The worst case scenario, estimated by the Environment Agency, is that it could impact on up to 3,000 properties across all the areas I have mentioned to varying degrees.

‘This is a significant incident in terms of disruption to people and those people have been advised with regard to action to take.’

The severity of the storm was laid bare by the Met Office, which warned that Britain was set to be besieged by the elements this week. 

Spokesman Oli Claydon described the situation as ‘a timeline of different hazards as we go through the week but the first hazard is certainly of rain and that’s reflected in the warnings at the moment’. 

He explained: ‘As we go through the week and the low pressure that is bringing these fronts of rainfall that are persistent and heavy over the next few days … as that low pressure moves east and out into the North Sea, the winds will become a thing really later in the week.

‘Also as the low pressure moves away it pulls down a north-westerly airflow which brings much colder air across the UK again which then presents a further risk of snow.’ 

Storm Christoph was already wreaking havoc on the roads early this morning, with high winds bringing an oak tree crashing down on a driver in Thurston, Suffolk.  

Police tweeted a picture of the car and said: ‘First casualty of the bad weather… this convertible Fiat 500 had an oak tree fall on top of him as he was driving along. Amazingly no injuries.’ 

In County Durham, rescue teams worked throughout the night to save a Morrisons delivery van that became stuck on a flooded road.

And on the M62 motorway in Yorkshire, a lorry tipped on to its side in the strong winds, causing road closures.

Merseyside Police even reported a crash after a van was seen ‘aquaplaining’ on standing water on the motorway.

It said: ‘Please slow down and drive to the conditions. We have just finished dealing with this RTC on the M57 were one driver lost control after aquaplaning on standing water in lane three. Fortunately on this occasion nobody was hurt.’

Mr Claydon also said: ‘It’s not going to be a short burst of bad weather like you may think of in terms of storms in the past where it quickly blows through overnight.

‘It’s really persistent heavy rain, the rain really is going to be persistent, just continuing all the way through today and tomorrow and into Thursday, it’s really just the prolonged accumulation of rainfall rather than a short come and gone weather event.’  

Calderdale Council in West Yorkshire said flood sirens in the village of Walsden in the west of the county had been activated, telling residents to turn off their utilities.

The council’s chief executive Robin Tuddenham later said no further activation of sirens was expected overnight as river levels were high but stable.  

Floodwaters have already risen in parts of the country, with a motorist pictured stranded in Leicester, and workmen in York prepared flood defences on Tuesday morning near the city’s River Ouse.

A major incident had already been declared in South Yorkshire in anticipation of flooding that could arrive in the coming days.

Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones tweeted on Monday evening: ‘Key risk areas have been inspected over the past 36 hours, sand-bags have been handed out in flood-risk areas & will continue over the next 24 hours.’