News

Weather warning issued in Greater Manchester as summer continues to suck

Yeah cool, cheers summer.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 14th August 2023

It’s the middle of August and the weather up north in Manchester continues to be… drum roll please… pure rain.

The wet weather is still sticking around for a while yet, with the Met Office issuing a yellow weather warning for Greater Manchester today.

The weather service has warned of a risk of disruption to transport due to a forecast of heavy rain today.

It is also warned of a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded, as well difficult driving conditions. Oh, joy.

The Met Office’s yellow weather warning covers most of Wales, large parts of the North West, and a band of the country up towards Newcastle.

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The warning is in place until 9pm tonight, though the rain itself looks set to ease off for us (at least for a bit) at lunchtime.

It’s expected that the Greater Manchester region will be hit by a 90% chance of heavy rain between 8am and 11am, which is set to ease off a bit around midday.

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There’ll be a couple of hours of dry weather around lunch before the rain returns — only this time with a thunder and lightning warning as well.

There may be some stormy weather in the early evening, around 6pm, but then things will dry out a bit again.

It follows what we can all agree was a truly miserable July, with the heavy rain cancelling parts of Bluedot Festival and tricking smartwatches into thinking we were having a swim while walking around town.

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@the.manc

When it’s raining that hard in Manchester your apple watch thinks you’re having a swim😅🏊‍♀️ #manchester #rain #themanc #applewatch #mcr

♬ original sound – The Manc

A Met Office spokesperson said: “Rain is expected to develop across southwest England and south Wales on Sunday evening and spread northeast to affect many parts of England and Wales through Monday before easing and clearing into the North Sea on Monday night.

“Within this larger band, a corridor of heavy, persistent and perhaps thundery rainfall is expected to develop. There is some uncertainty in the track of this heavier rain but 20-40 mm of rain is expected to fall in many areas within the warning area, with a chance of 60-80 mm falling in a few places, much of which would fall in 3-6 hours.

“At this stage, this very heavy rain appears more likely to fall over northwest Wales and northwest England.”

Here’s what to expect from Greater Manchester’s yellow weather warning:

  • There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings
  • There is a small chance that some communities will be temporarily cut off by flooded roads
  • Spray and flooding is likely to lead to some difficult driving conditions and road closures
  • Where flooding occurs, there is a chance of delays or cancellations to train and bus services
  • There is a slight chance of power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses

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

Featured Image — Unsplash

News

Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group

Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.

Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.

Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.

Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.

The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.

They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”

In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.

Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.

Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group

CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.

“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”

Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.

One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”

Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”

Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”

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Featured image: The Manc Group

News

‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data

Danny Jones Danny Jones the average price of a pint in the UK by region

Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.

Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.

The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.

While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.

@the.manc Just trying to walk home and the Northern Quarter keeps tempting me in for a pint. 🙈 #themanc #manchester #mcr #northernquarter #spring ♬ original sound – The Manc

The average price of a pint per region in the UK

  1. Wales – £4.21
  2. North East – £4.28
  3. Northern Ireland – £4.42
  4. Scotland – £4.42
  5. Yorkshire and the Humber – £4.42
  6. North West – £4.42
  7. West Midlands – £4.42
  8. East Midlands – £4.42
  9. East England – £4.56
  10. South West – £4.93
  11. South East – £4.94
  12. London – £5.44

That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.

Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.

Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.

Happy hour Manchester – The best drinks deals in the city centre
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.

London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)

While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.

To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.

CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.

Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…

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

Featured Images — The Manc Group

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