Heavy rain could lead to more floods

Persistent rainfall is expected across North West England with the heaviest rain likely to fall across parts of Lancashire, Greater Manchester and the western parts of Yorkshire.

The Environment Agency has warned that there is a risk that some communities in these areas will experience river and surface water flooding of roads and properties later on Saturday and on Sunday.

Some rivers will continue to rise into next week, with minor flooding possible along parts of the Ribble, Mersey and Severn.

Environment Agency teams are monitoring the situation and will issue flood warnings and alerts as required.

The public should avoid driving through flood water and people can stay up to date with the latest information on gov.uk or by following @EnvAgency on Twitter.

Craig Woolhouse, Environment Agency Duty Flood Risk Manager, said:

Persistent rain over the weekend means that we could see some flooding in the north-west of England. Our main attention is on Lancashire, Greater Manchester and western parts of Yorkshire. There is also a low risk of river flooding into Monday for larger rivers including the Ribble, Mersey and Severn which take longer to rise.

Environment Agency teams are out on the ground clearing rivers of blockages to reduce the risk of flooding. We are monitoring the situation closely and will issue flood warnings and alerts where necessary. Anyone can keep up to date with the latest situation on GOV.UK or by following@EnvAgency and #floodaware on Twitter for the latest updates.