2,000 homes across Greater Manchester were evacuated on Wednesday as emergency services worked overnight to protect locals from Storm Christoph.
Heavy rain and snow continued to fall across the region throughout the night – forcing residents in East Didsbury, West Didsbury and Northenden to temporarily leave their properties.
Emergency services have been helping those affected whilst Environment Agency teams deploy temporary flood defences and close flood barriers.
Severe flooding alerts – meaning ‘danger to life’ – remain in place in four local areas: Little Bollington, Heatley, East Didsbury, and West Didsbury & Northenden.
The Environment Agency has warned that heavy rain is expected to continue on Thursday (January 21) and into the weekend.
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Water levels on the River Mersey also remain high.
Well that all happened very quickly. ❄️
From the rainiest day of the year to the snowiest in a matter of minutes. Today has been crazy to say the least!
Graph ⬇️ shows impact of opening of flood gates on Mersey at Sale Ees (for 1st time since early 90s) – huge volume of water pouring into Sale Water Park to prevent Mersey bursting banks. Levels in lake ⬆️ 3/4m in 4 hrs – see vid of flood gates from c. same time. ? @EnvAgencyNWhttps://t.co/9Z9s7CgfO8pic.twitter.com/wrnsLNuX4f
“Please do not travel in the North West if possible”
People right across the Greater Manchester region and beyond are being urged to avoid all forms of non-essential travel.
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Rain, snow and freezing temperatures have created extremely challenging driving conditions – with more bad weather on the way later today.
Some public transport in the area stopped entirely on Wednesday, with local train operator Northern cancelling the majority of its services due to “increasingly poor conditions”.
More than 40 services were cancelled by 8am on Thursday morning, with Northern confirming that “disruption is expected until the end of the day”.
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East Midlands railway is still unable to run morning services between Liverpool and Manchester.
Manchester Piccadilly Station said that all services between London, Liverpool and Manchester are currently cancelled, with engineers “working out how long it’s going to take to clear all the flooding”.
Manchester Metrolink services also experienced disruption on Wednesday due to a fallen tree on the line between East Didsbury and West Didsbury.
Metrolink reps have since said the incident has been resolved and that “services will run as timetabled”.
Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service said that people “should only travel today if it’s essential”.
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“Our brave emergency services”
As Environment Agency workers, police, paramedics, and fire workers waded into the eye of the storm last night, one takeaway worked late to whip up food for the emergency services personnel keeping people safe.
Staff from local Palestinian restaurant Baity teamed up with Didsbury West Councillor Greg Stanton to cook and send out the food with just a few hours notice – delivering over 100 meals.
Thanks to all the teams from @gmpolice@manchesterfire and @mancitycouncil working to support residents in south Manchester. Please follow their advice and stay safe everyone
Full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Day 2024
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Day is back for 2024 this weekend, and the full list of road closures set to be in place has been confirmed.
Now that schools are officially out across Greater Manchester, and the summer holidays are well and truly here, the hugely-popular Manchester Day is making a return once again this Saturday 27 July, and as always, it’s set to be “the day summer officially starts” in the city centre – with a massive celebration of “all things Mancunian” on the cards.
The theme of this year’s annual event is ‘Let The Games Begin’, and it’s inspired by the international summer of sport, just 2024 Olympics kicks off over in Paris.
The day will be packed full of free events and activities to get involved with.
Some city centre roads will be closed on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July for Manchester Day.
These will include:
🛣️Deansgate 🛣️St Ann Street 🛣️St Mary’s Gate 🛣️Market Street 🛣️King Street
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 21, 2024
But of course, in order for the all the fun to go ahead as safely as possible, and as tends to be the case for events like these, Manchester City Council says it will need to make some temporary road closures to facilitate it.
The full list of road closures has now been confirmed by the Council, and there’s some major city centre thoroughfares set to be out of action.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester Day is back for 2024 to celebrate the international summer of sport / Credit: Manchester City Council
Manchester Day 2024 – Road Closures
Saturday 27 July
From 6am to 11:59pm, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the following roads will be closed:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street) – access will be maintained to Marks and Spencer’s car park and Number One Deansgate.
St Ann Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street (Cross Street to Deansgate) – no access for deliveries.
All accessible bays, bus lanes, and taxi ranks within the closed areas will also be suspended during from 6pm on Friday 26 July to 11:59pm on Saturday 27 July.
The parking suspensions set to be in place are:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street)
St Ann Street – including the bays outside St Ann’s Church (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Southgate (St Mary’s Street to King Street West)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Victoria Street (Cathedral Approach to Deansgate)
Todd Street (Corporation Street to Station Approach)
King Street (Spring Gardens to Southgate)
South King Street (Ridgefield to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street West (Deansgate to St Mary’s Parsonage)
St James’s Square (John Dalton Street to South King Street)
Cross Street (King Street to Corporation Street)
Museum Street (Peter Street to Windmill Street)
Marsden Street (Cheapside to Brown Street)
Manchester Day 2024: Let The Games Begin! will take over the city centre on Saturday 27 July from 12pm-6pm.
Check out everything you need to know ahead of the event here.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete
Emily Sergeant
Work currently underway on the Rochdale via Oldham line is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has now “slowed”, and this means that detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works have been able to get underway.
In order for trams to run again on the crucial line from the city centre to the two major Greater Manchester towns, TfGM says that a small section of track has to be moved back – also known as ‘slewed’ – into its original position.
The overhead line poles also need to be repaired too, the transport operator revealed.
Rochdale line update
Land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has slowed, enabling detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works to get underway.
To get trams running again, a small section of track has to be moved back into its original position… pic.twitter.com/byERjitdi1
Unfortunately though, due to the “complex” nature of these works, and despite the fact that TfGM says it’s actively looking to “accelerate” the repairs, the project is expected to take up to five weeks to complete in full.
On top of this, the detailed ground investigations will also establish whether any further work to strengthen foundations beneath the track will be needed at a later date.
TfGM has apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete / Credit: TfGM
Speaking on the scale of works currently underway, and how long he expects them to continue for, Pete Sommers, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, said: “I’m sorry for the impact this is having, and will continue to have, on people’s journeys.
“We are working to get trams running through the area again, but this remains a complex and challenging issue and it could still be a few weeks before this happens.
“We will of course keep passengers updated, and I’d encourage people to check our social media channels and website for the latest information and advice.”