A major incident has been declared as people prepare for Storm Christoph to bring heavy rain and flooding to the UK.
An amber weather warning for rain has been issued by the Met Office from today to Thursday for an area of northern England, including Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield and Peterborough.
As a result a major incident has been declared in South Yorkshire and people have been told to prepare for evacuation if a severe flood warning is issued.
Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones tweeted: ‘A major incident has been declared at a South Yorkshire level in preparation for potential flooding over the next few days.
‘Key risk areas have been inspected over the past 36 hours, sand-bags have been handed out in flood-risk areas and will continue over the next 24 hours.’
She added: ‘I do not want people to panic, but flooding is possible so please be prepared.’
Wind and rain has already started with the heaviest of the rain expected overnight tonight. Forecasters have warned homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, with damage to some buildings.
The combination of the heavy rain with melting snow may cause fast-flowing floodwater, leading to a ‘danger to life’ warning being issued.
Catherine Wright, from the Environment Agency, said: ‘That rain is falling on very wet ground and so we are very concerned that it’s a very volatile situation and we are expecting significant flooding to occur on the back of that weather.’
She stressed that if people are required to evacuate their homes this is is permitted under coronavirus regulations.
There are fears extra pressure may be put on the emergency services – which are already struggling due to staff shortages and more call-outs due to the pandemic – if communities are cut off by the flooding.
Up to 70mm of rain is expected to fall but some isolated areas, including the Peak District and parts of the southern Pennines, may see up to 200mm.
A yellow rain alert is also in place across most of northern England and Wales until tomorrow, and another yellow weather warning for snow and ice is in force in parts of Scotland and in the East from tomorrow until midday on Thursday.
The Environment Agency issued 10 flood warnings covering parts of Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire yesterday night, with a further 109 flood alerts across the North, the East and the Midlands.
Highways England advised drivers to take extra care on the roads, while the RAC breakdown service said people should only drive if absolutely necessary.
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