Heavy rain and strong winds caused flooding in parts of the United Kingdom on Wednesday Continued to disrupt New Year’s celebrations,
Several communities in the Manchester area were flooded, with many homes evacuated and cars on roads and parking lots flooded to the rafters in two days after almost a month of rain.
Greater Manchester Police said a major incident was declared and mountain rescue teams were called in to help firefighters deal with submerged properties and stranded vehicles.
“There is still a possibility of further flooding throughout the day,” Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said. “We are potentially expecting that the flood situation will get worse before it gets better.”
Tom Coulthard said the rain started on Tuesday afternoon and continued throughout the night where he lives in Didsbury, south of Manchester, causing riverbanks to overflow and forcing the evacuation of a hotel before dawn. Roads and highways were closed in the area.
“All the local rivers and streams have kind of filled up and there’s been flooding around the area,” said Coulthard, a geography professor at the University of Hull. “It’s really probably indicative of how our weather is changing, how the climate is changing.”
Flooding and storms derailed New Year’s Eve fireworks celebrations, leading to the cancellation of fireworks in Edinburgh and several other cities. Events planned for New Year’s Day, including the Nippy Outdoor Swimming and the Bathtub Boat Race, were cancelled.
London, which was able to launch its huge fireworks display over the River Thames in front of Big Ben, had to postpone the start of its New Year’s Day parade and put out inflatable floats due to hazy and muggy conditions .
Cheerleaders and band members marching in central London cover up their glittery costumes with transparent covers to protect themselves from the rain.
Warnings indicating the possibility of flooding were issued at one point for more than 150 communities across Britain, the majority of which were in northern England. In the following days, dozens of those warnings were lifted.
Many trains were canceled and some highways were closed due to high water around the tracks.
As temperatures dropped, there were snow warnings in place for Northern Ireland, parts of northern Wales, England and Scotland until Thursday morning. And a three-day snowfall warning was issued for much of England and Scotland over the coming weekend.