Storm Christoph sees rivers in Manchester and Wales reach highest levels ever

1.2k

View
comments

Emergency services were today try to protect a factory involved in making a Covid-19 vaccine from being deluged as Storm Christoph saw thousands of people including entire villages evacuated amid widespread flooding.

Teams were working through the night to protect the crucial site at Wrexham Industrial Estate in North Wales, which is involved in making the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine that is also stored there. 

After two months’ worth of rain fell over parts of the UK, the River Mersey threatened to burst its banks in Didsbury as water levels rose to a record high – prompting a mass evacuation in parts of Greater Manchester.

Families woke up in emergency accommodation today after 2,000 homes were evacuated in East and West Didsbury and Northenden, as water levels rose to 3.27m (10.7ft) – beating the previous high of 3m (9.8ft) in 2016.

The Environment Agency issued two threat to life flood warnings for the area, while two more were issued nearby for the River Bollin – one at Little Bollington and the other at Heatley. A further 198 flood warnings and 223 less severe flood alerts were issued across England as rivers in Northumberland and Yorkshire also overflowed. 

The River Dee in Wales reached 16.4m (53.8ft) – higher than the previous record of 16.35m (53.6ft) in 2011, sparking an evacuation of the village of Bangor-on-Dee were residents were told to wait for specialist 4x4s to pick them up. 

Wrexham council leader Mark Pritchard told BBC Radio Wales: ‘We had an incident at Wrexham Industrial Estate, the Oxford vaccination is produced there and the warehouse where it is stored. Obviously I can’t tell you where it is, but we had to work in partnership to make sure we didn’t lose the vaccinations in the floods.’

The plant has been tasked with making 300million doses of the vaccine per year but its location is close to the River Dee which was at its highest recorded level since the water gauge became operational in 1996. 

A spokesman for its operator Wockhardt said: ‘Last night at approximately 4pm Wockhardt UK experienced mild flooding, resulting in excess water surrounding part of the buildings across site.

‘All necessary precautions were taken, meaning no disruption to manufacturing or inlet of water into buildings. The site is now secure and free from any further flood damage and operating as normal.’ 

The flooding risk at the factory comes amid uncertainty over the speed of Britain’s vaccine rollout, with ministers blaming ‘supply constraints’ for a three-day blip that raised fears the NHS drive had stalled.

But official data yesterday sparked hopes it was still on track, as more than 346,000 jabs were given on Tuesday. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who today took off in a helicopter in London to view the flooding chaos – insisted the UK was still on schedule to inoculate 14million vulnerable people by mid-February.

In order to meet the lockdown-easing target, the Government must average more than 350,000 doses a day from now until February 15, with the previous bullish tone from officials getting toned down in recent days.

Pfizer’s supplies have been dented by a factory upgrade which will continue into next month. Sources also cite factors such as ‘intermittent’ deliveries and trouble contacting the remaining over-80s and covering care homes.

MPs have also voiced concern at the way supplies have been divvied out. In London – which has given the fewest jabs – the allocation is said to have been based on take-up of last season’s flu vaccine, which was relatively low.

Today, the Welsh Government urged people not travel unless essential, with a severe warning in place for the Dee along with 35 flood warnings and 47 alerts issued by Natural Resources Wales. Scotland had six alerts in place.

Areas suffered heavy rain overnight, with one resident of Haslemere in Surrey telling MailOnline of the scene at about 10pm last night. He said: ‘It was Biblical. The rain was coming down sideways like in a bad American movie.

‘I saw some poor chap walking his dog and he was absolutely drenched, he looked like he had just given up and accepted it. It was honestly like someone had switched on the shower. I’ve never seen anything like it.’

Looking ahead, the Met Office issued a swathe of weather warnings across Britain for today which run up until midday tomorrow – with Scotland facing more snow and rain, and northern England facing the threat of ice.  

Boris Johnson yesterday summoned a Cobra meeting to co-ordinate the national response to Storm Christoph, and Downing Street insisted Covid-secure facilities will be available for anyone forced to leave their homes.  

Cheshire Police said 33 residents of houseboats in Northwich had been evacuated due to the level of the River Weaver.

Up to twice the normal January rainfall is expected in places – with the worst-affected areas predicted to have seen up to 200mm (8ins) over nearly three days. 

Grahame Madge, of the Met Office, said: ‘We are expecting significant totals of rainfall and when you combine that with snowmelt it can lead to localised flooding across the affected regions.’

Councils were left scrambling to evacuate people and shore up flood defences, made all the trickier by the need to keep confirmed cases of Covid-19 away from other people fleeing their homes. 

There was also an evacuation of homes at Ruthin in North Wales and Maghull in Merseyside. 

Manchester City Council set up a Covid-safe emergency rest centre at Wythenshawe Forum for those displaced.

Others were allowed to stay with friends and families, with the council ensuring them no legal action will be taken if they need to stay somewhere else due to the flood risk. 

Didsbury resident Trish Loder said she and her husband had gone to their daughter’s house nearby at about 10pm last night after being warned there was a risk of flooding.

The 68-year-old said: ‘We had a couple of occasions where police came and the Environment Agency contacted us to say there is a risk to life. It was very dramatic. We’ve lived here for 40 years and I’ve never seen it this bad.

‘We didn’t particularly want to leave but our house is close to the river and we kept going down to check the levels. I haven’t slept a wink but the Neighbourhood Watch group and local councillor kept us updated.

‘We knew by about 5am it seemed better. It’s a big relief and hopefully we’ve seen the worst of it now.’

Nelson Vasconcelos said he was warned of a flooding risk at his home in Didsbury last night.

The 37-year-old said: ‘We didn’t leave because we have two small children, aged two and six, and I have no family nearby because I’m originally from Brazil. We spent all night moving things to the second floor and trying to keep the kids safe.

‘We had bags packed in case we had to leave and the police told us to be ready at any moment.’

Gabrielle Burns-Smith, 44, said her home in Lymm, Cheshire, had flooded yesterday evening.

She said: ‘By 3pm yesterday the water outside was shin deep and by 4pm it was knee deep, and we were seriously worrying that the house was going to be breached. Then it was.

‘We’re still in the house, we can’t go anywhere because we can’t get the car out, the water is just too deep. Both our living rooms are flooded.

‘At 1am I sat and just watched the water coming through the back door.

‘We’ve moved everything we can upstairs. Some of the furniture we haven’t been able to bring upstairs, so that’s just gone.’

Ms Burns-Smith said all of the four houses on Warrington Lane in Lymm had been affected by flooding.

She said: ‘We are surrounded by fields full of water and there are hills at the back of us, so we’re just waiting for all the water to come down from them. 

‘We managed to get a couple of hours sleep but you almost don’t want to go to sleep because you don’t know what you’ll wake up to.

‘We’ve lived here two-and-a-half years and as we moved in there were new grates and drains put in, so we’ve never been flooded here before. 

‘Our neighbours who have been here for years say they have never seen it like this, with this amount of water down the lane.’

Lee Rawlinson, from the Environment Agency, was in Didsbury today. 

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the river level was ‘shocking,’ adding: ‘What I’m really pleased with is the actions of the Environment Agency meant we managed to take the peak off the river so that it didn’t top its banks and flood those properties but we were very, very close.

‘We were within centimetres and we’re not out of the woods yet. The difficulty is that it’s still raining up in the uplands, it may not be raining here in Cheshire and Manchester as heavily now, but the uplands are still getting some of that rainfall and the water has to come down through the rivers we’re being vigilant for the next couple of days.

‘We have our staff out for days before these events and for long days afterwards to try and ensure the rivers and the water can flow as freely and quickly to get away so we can get people back into their homes as quickly as possible.  We’ve protected hundreds of properties through this event here.’ 

Mr Rawlinson also said that flood basins put in place on the River Mersey in Didsbury had ‘served their purpose’ overnight and kept properties in the area dry.

‘At Didsbury, the River Mersey got to very high levels very quickly, the water was pouring through there,’ he told BBC Breakfast. ‘What we did as an organisation, we have a couple of flood basins that we employed there, that they took the water away. It took the peak of the water off.

‘The top of the river came within centimetres of the top of the river bank but our defences there have served their purpose and kept those properties dry. But it was very close.’

Mr Johnson urged people to heed the flood warnings and evacuate their properties when told to do so.

Lib Dem councillor Richard Kilpatrick said he was among those who had to evacuate overnight after police came knocking on doors in The Beeches in Didsbury, with the local mosque opening its doors. 

He told the Manchester Evening News: ‘The atmosphere has been a mixture of anxiety and disbelief I think. I helped door knocking to inform residents. We are fine and spirits are high. We just don’t expect it to happen here, the defences have always been enough.’ 

North Wales Police said its officers were helping the fire service to evacuate homes in Ruthin, Denbighshire, and urged people to avoid the area.

The force tweeted: ‘Officers have been called to assist @DenbighshireCC and @NWFRS in £Ruthin, where some homes are being evacuated.

‘Regrettably, people who do not live locally are driving to the area to ‘see the floods’. Please do not stretch our resources by adding to the problem.’

The force also urged residents of Bangor on Dee to head to Ysgol Sant Dunawd for shelter after the severe flood warning was issued for the area.

Wrexham Council said it was ‘working with partners to address any need for temporary rest centres for residents likely to be affected’. 

Meanwhile, residents in Maghull were advised to leave their properties as soon as possible after a severe flood warning was issued, Sefton Council said.

A council spokesman said heavy rain had led to raised water levels and flooding from the River Alt which was set to increase.

‘Water levels at Dover Brook, near the River Alt, reached 2.5m today, which is unprecedented for that area, modelling from the Environment Agency, including anticipated overnight rainfall, will take that level to 3.5m,’ the spokesman said.

Downing Street said Covid-secure facilities would be available for any people forced to evacuate as a result of the weather.

Mr Johnson 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.

He told reporters: ‘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.’

An amber warning was in place overnight, stretching from the East Midlands to the Lake District.

The 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 (1ft) could fall in areas above 400m, with up to 10cm (4ft) likely to accumulate in lower regions until 8am on Thursday.

Met Office forecaster John Griffiths said Aberllefenni in Wales had seen the UK’s highest amount of rainfall from Storm Christoph, with 187.8mm (7.39in) dumped over the last 56 hours.

He added Bolton in Greater Manchester recorded the highest rainfall in England at 150.4mm (5.92in) over the same amount of time – more than the region’s average for the entire month of January. 

Mr Griffiths said although flooding was going to be an ‘ongoing issue’ for the UK over the next few days, it was ‘generally an improving picture’.

Flooding blocked the East Coast Main Line between Darlington and York, with a bus replacement service being set up, train operator LNER said.

There were also warnings that trains between Leeds and York could be affected due to disruption caused by flooding.The line between Rochdale and Walsden in West Yorkshire has also been blocked due to floods.

In Scotland, motorists are facing difficult driving conditions as Storm Christoph brings heavy snow and rain.

Traffic Scotland said the Queensferry Crossing was closed due to a ‘risk of falling ice’ while motorists were advised to drive with caution when crossing the A9 Dornoch Bridge due to high winds.  

Authorities have reminded people they should only travel for essential reasons under current coronavirus restrictions, and to take care if they do have to go out.

Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: ‘The Met Office is telling us that Storm Christoph is likely to bring another period of challenging weather to parts of Scotland over the next few days, particularly in the north and north-east of Scotland.

‘The current Covid restrictions mean you should only be leaving your home for an essential purpose, so please consider if your journey is absolutely necessary before setting off.

‘The forecast snow has potential to cause difficult driving conditions and disruption to the wider transport network, so if you have to make an essential journey during the warning period it’s important you plan your journey, drive to the conditions and follow Police Scotland travel advice.’

Operating company Bear South East said planned overnight works on the A68 near Lauder, Berwickshire, had been suspended due to the forecast. More than 100 gritters were out last night trying to keep major roads open.

** Have you been affected by the flooding and/or evacuations today? Please email: tips@mailonline.com **