News

‘Do not travel’ warning issued after New Year’s Eve rain causes flooding

Trains are getting cancelled all over the place.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 1st January 2025

People are being urged not to travel on trains this morning after several routes have been left flooded from heavy rain on New Year’s Eve.

Mancs who braved a night out in the city centre, or the huge fireworks display at St Peter’s Square, faced miserable conditions last night.

Greater Manchester saw out the last hours of 2024 in extremely heavy rain which persisted for much of the evening.

And it’s left large parts of the North West with flooding and flood warnings in place.

Now, TransPennine Express has issued ‘do not travel’ advice and Northern has warned of severe disruption to many services.

ADVERTISEMENT

A huge number of trains departing from Manchester stations this morning have been cancelled because of ‘heavy rain flooding the railway’.

TransPennine Express said that ‘the flooding is causing significant issues in Greater Manchester and Cheshire and is impacting many service across the major trans-Pennine routes.’

ADVERTISEMENT

Travellers are urged to delay their journeys until ‘at least’ the afternoon on New Year’s Day, with concerns that further flooding issues are likely.

Andy McClements, Customer Experience and Transformation Director for TransPennine Express said: “We are urging anyone travelling this morning across the affected routes to defer their travel or claim a refund.”

Make sure you check your journey before you travel.

ADVERTISEMENT

You can see the current flood warnings in place around Greater Manchester below and check the most up-to-date warnings HERE.

Flood warnings in place in the North West as 'do not travel' warning issued for New Year's Day
Flood warnings in place in the North West as ‘do not travel’ warning issued for New Year’s Day

Read more

Featured image: The Manc Group

News

Neil Young U-turns on Glastonbury drop-out after being confirmed as festival headliner

Danny Jones Danny Jones Neil Young now headlining Glastonbury Festival 2025 after pulling out

Barely a beat or two after having seemingly dropped out of the festival, Neil Young has now U-turned on Glastonbury 2025 and now looks set to be headlining it.

The legendary musician called out the world-renowned music festival for being under “corporate” control at the whim of the BBC (its official media and broadcasting partner for nearly 30 years) and said he would no longer be playing his slot.

Young went so far as to call it a “corporate turn-off”, claiming the event is “not how I remember it” in a message on his website.

However, just a few days after posting the news, it now appears as though the Canadian singer-songwriter will still be playing Glastonbury – and not just as one of the multiple legends lined up for 2025 either, but as a headliner.

Neil Young is now seemingly headlining Glastonbury 2025. (Credit: Screenshot via Neil Young Archives)

As you can see in the update shared on Friday, 3 January, the 79-year-old now claims there was an “error” in the information he received regarding his performance at the festival.

Having now cleared up whatever confusion occurred, he and his band the Chrome Hearts will in fact be playing the festival as planned, reiterating his long-lasting love for the festival.

Quite a far cry from the sentiment he seemed to be getting across in his previous post, but make of that what you will.

Furthermore, chief organiser Emily Eavis – whose parents Michael and Jean Eavis set up the first ever Glastonbury music festival back in 1970 – not only hopped on social media to confirm that ‘Shakey’ will be performing but that he will be headline the main Pyramid Stage.

“Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury”, she wrote, adding: “He does things his own way and that’s why we love him.”

So has he been given a slot upgrade of sorts or what? It still remains a little unclear.

At present, Rod Stewart is set to play the iconic and outright ‘Legends’ slot during Sunday teatime this June. We likely won’t hear much else about the rest of the lineup until sometime in spring.

This, of course, isn’t the first time Neil Young has done a 180 following a well-publicised decision in protest against a big media company.

The music veteran famously removed all of his discography from Spotify for two years before it eventually reappeared back in March 2024.

As for whatever happened between him and the festival or whether this was some gamesmanship from the influential music icon, at the end of the day, he’s heading to Worthy Farm after all.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Per Ole Hagen/Rachel D/Ross Belot (via Flickr)

News

Met Office issues double Amber weather warning for snow in Greater Manchester

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Met Office issues double Amber weather warning for snow in Greater Manchester

The Met Office has slapped TWO Amber weather warnings across Greater Manchester with snow and ice forecast to be on the way.

The weather service said predicted that snow and freezing rain over the weekend are likely to lead to disruption, including possible power cuts, transport delays and road closures.

There is currently an Amber weather warning for snow covering an area from Newcastle all the way down to Greater Manchester.

And there’s a separate Amber warning for snow and ice which covers everywhere from Cardiff up to Greater Manchester.

It means that our city is currently under three separate weather warnings across the UK, according to the Met Office.

The warnings for snow and ice are in place from 6pm on Saturday until midday on Sunday, while the warning for just snow begins on Saturday at 9pm and doesn’t end until Sunday at midnight.

According to the Greater Manchester weather forecast, we are likely to see heavy snow showers overnight on Saturday and into Sunday morning.

Though in typical Manchester fashion, there’s then heavy rain forecast on Sunday afternoon which may melt any snow that does fall.

Check the latest forecast before you travel HERE.

The Met Office said: “Snow will become persistent and locally heavy as it pushes south to north across the warning area. As well as snow, a period of freezing rain is also likely bringing some hazardous travel conditions, before milder air follows across all areas by Sunday morning.

“Whilst there is some uncertainty in details, 3-7 cm of snow is likely for much of the warning area, with locally 15-30 cm for the higher ground of Wales and the southern Pennines. Freezing rain could lead to ice accretion in places, especially parts of Wales, before the milder air leads to a rapid thaw of snow and ice in the south of the warning area through Sunday.

“It is safer not to drive in these conditions, but if you need to make an essential journey, consider alternative forms of transport, to keep you and others safe. If you must drive, do this more safely by: using dipped headlights; accelerating gently, using low revs and changing to higher gears as quickly as possible; starting in second gear to help with wheel slip; maintaining a safe and steady speed, keeping distance from other vehicles; using a low gear to go downhill, avoiding braking unless necessary; steering into skids, not taking your hands of the wheel, and avoiding slamming on brakes.

“People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It’s easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.

“If isolated due to snow or ice, follow these simple steps to keep safe and well: keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night; turn off electrical heaters and put out your fire before going to bed; ensure pets are safe by keeping them warm and comfortable; prevent frozen pipes by opening kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing; stay indoors, wrap up warm and close internal doors to keep the heat in; and, if you need support call the British Red Cross Support Line on 0808 196 3651.

“Help to protect vulnerable people that you know including older people, those with underlying conditions and those who live alone; they may need support with food and medical supplies. If you are worried about your health or that of somebody you know, ring NHS 111.”

Read more

Featured image: Unsplash, Dylan4photography

More News

The Y Club gym Manchester flooded

City Centre

Manchester city centre gym forced to close for repairs following New Year’s Eve flooding

Ex-Man City player now new President of Georgia

News

A former Manchester City player has been sworn in as the new president of Georgia

Neil Young drops out of Glastonbury Festival 2025 legend slot

Audio

Neil Young pulls out of ‘corporate controlled’ Glastonbury Festival

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches