Amber weather warning for rain this week

Heavy rainfall could disrupt traffic

An amber warning for rain has been issued for parts of central northern England, including Greater Manchester.

The Amber National Severe Weather Warning includes the Rochdale borough, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. It is valid from 6am on Tuesday morning (19 January) until 12 noon on Thursday night (21 January), with the potential for up to 120mm to fall in parts of the southern Pennines and northern Peak District.

Further yellow weather warnings have been issued for much of England for the same time period.

Chief Meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: “A wide area of rainfall will move across central parts of the UK on Monday evening and bring heavy rain for the following 36-48 hours. The rain will be heaviest across western facing hills, in particular parts of the southern Pennines and northern Peak District where we could see up to 120mm over the course of the warning period with 40-70mm of rain widely across the whole Amber area.

“Heavy rain will impact the whole of England and Wales by Wednesday with Yellow warnings for rain in force. By Thursday 100-150mm of rain could fall over high ground in Wales and Northern England. As well as rainfall, rapid snow melt will add to these accumulations, adding 5-10mm in the worst affected areas. These amounts of rainfall along with snow melt present a real threat of flooding, keep up to date with the latest Met Office forecast as well as flood warnings from the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales.”

As well as heavy rain, strong winds will add to the unsettled weather especially in higher and more exposed locations.

With milder air over much of the UK this week the chance of snow has reduced in the early part of the week, with only some wintry showers forecast for parts of high ground in Scotland.

However colder air is never far away through the week and by Thursday there is a chance of further snowfall in parts of northern Britain as the area of low pressure pulls away into the North Sea.

What to expect

• Homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, causing damage to some buildings
• Fast flowing or deep floodwater is likely, causing danger to life
• Delays and some cancellations to train and bus services are likely
• Spray and flooding probably leading to difficult driving conditions and some road closures
• A good chance some communities cut off by flooded roads
• Power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses likely