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Rare red flood warnings – the severest possible, signifying a “danger to life” – have been issued for Lancashire and Yorkshire today.
Weather experts forecast up to 5 inches of rain in the north of England – an amount approaching the average rainfall for the whole of December.
Floods Minister Rory Stewart said that rainfall levels in the flood-hit areas were unprecedented.
By 10am, residents in some Lancashire villages were pictured desperately bailing out water from their homes, with buckets.
Others used rafts to travel down high streets.
Residents in Lancashire and parts of Yorkshire have been told to “take action” and to protect property.
They have been urged not to travel, after 12 red flood warnings were issued by the Environment Agency and the Met Office.
Seven of those are for Lancashire and five for Yorkshire.
The red category – also described as “severe” – is reserved for only the most serious conditions.
The Met Office said: “Very severe weather conditions are expected.
“Take action to remain safe and protect property. Widespread flooding will lead to severe disruption to travel and danger to life.”
Two of the warnings are for the River Ribble, three for the River Calder and two for the River Wyre.
A further 188 “flood warnings” – signifying “flooding is expected” – are in place for regions across northern England and Wales.
Another 123 less severe “flood alerts” have also been issued, some for the Midlands.
Some of the worst flooding was in Whalley in Lancashire, where the entire high street was knee deep in water.
Most homes were evacuated, though some people were seen inside homes, desperately bailing out water with buckets.
“The rain keeps falling, the misery continues,” Sky News reporter Fraser Maude, in Whalley, said.
In Scotland, there are 11 flood warnings and five lesser flood alerts. No “severe” warnings have been issued.
A number of Boxing Day football and racing events were called off because of the floods.
The match between Blackpool and Oldham was postponed, as were the games between Hartlepool and Notts County, Morecambe and Mansfield and Accrington and Carlisle.
Bookmakers have slashed the chances of this December being the wettest in history to even odds.
The Government’s emergency Cobra committee met on Christmas Day to discuss the flooding. They are meeting again today.
The 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, helped committees across the North West build miles of temporary flood defences.
Mr Stewart, Floods Minister, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “Certainly what we’ve seen is rainfall levels that nobody’s ever seen before.”
Some 85% of the country’s flood barriers have been sent to Cumbria, where many regions have been flooded three times within the past month.
Police are also warning motorists not to drive unless it is “absolutely necessary”.
Many towns and villages in Cumbria are still cleaning up after Storm Desmond caused damage to hundreds of homes and businesses earlier in December.
The North West has already suffered the wettest December since records began in 1910. The EA has deployed 700 staff in the region.
Sky News weather presenter Isobel Lang said: “The reason the Met Office will have issued these warnings so early in the morning is because they know lots of people plan to be on the road.”
Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said the latest weather is “unusual” given the relatively mild weather enjoyed across England during December.
Courtesy of Sky News
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