Parts of UK flooded by rain, wild weather disrupts New Year’s events

Parts of the UK were flooded on Wednesday due to heavy rain and strong winds continued to disrupt the New Year’s celebrations.

Several communities in the Manchester area were flooded, with several homes evacuated and cars submerged up to their roofs on roads and car parks after nearly a month of rain that fell in two days.

A major incident has been declared and mountain rescue teams have been called in to help firefighters respond to flooded properties and stuck vehicles, Greater Manchester Police said.

“Further flooding remains likely throughout the day,” Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said. “Potentially, we expect the flooding situation to get worse before it gets better.”

Tom Coulthard said the rain started late on Tuesday afternoon and continued overnight where he lives in Didsbury, south of Manchester, flooding river banks and forcing the hotel to evacuate before dawn. Roads and highways were closed in the area.

“All the local rivers and waterways kind of filled up and flooded around that area,” said Coulthard, professor of geography at the University of Hull. “It’s really probably a sign of how our weather is changing, how the climate is changing.”

Flooding and storm surges derailed New Year’s fireworks celebrations, leading to cancellations in Edinburgh and several other cities. Events planned for New Year’s Day, including a fast open water swim and a tub boat race, have been scrapped.

London, which could have set off its massive fireworks display on the River Thames in front of Big Ben, had to delay the start of its New Year’s Eve parade and grounded inflatables due to wind and rain.

Cheerleaders and band members marching through central London pulled sheer blankets over their bright costumes to keep out the rain.

Warnings indicating expected flooding were issued at one point for more than 150 communities across the UK, most of them in northern England. Later in the day, dozens of those warnings were withdrawn.

Several trains were canceled due to high water around the tracks, and some highways were closed.

With temperatures falling, ice warnings were in place until late Thursday morning for Northern Ireland, parts of North Wales, England and Scotland. And a three-day snow warning has been issued for much of England and Scotland for the coming weekend.