Storm Christoph continuing to bring flooding and travel disruption in Wigan

Wigan Council is advising people to consider alternative routes as Storm Christoph continues to have an impact in the borough and across Greater Manchester today (January 21).

Heavy rain is pouring across the region with river levels rising and roads becoming flooded, including at Saddle Junction in Wigan.

An amber weather warning is in place for severe weather across parts of the North West until midday with wind and snow expected in some areas.

In a post on Facebook, the council said: "Surface water flooding continues to impact on the road network across the borough.

"We are advising residents to consider alternative routes and not to attempt to drive through flood water or ignore road closure signs."

The following roads were closed overnight due to flooding.:

• A5106 Chorley Road, Standish, between A49 Wigan Lane and B5239 Red Rock Lane

• A574 Warrington Road, Leigh, between A580 and A572 Chapel Street

• Walkden Avenue/Buckley Street, Wigan, closed between Gidlow Lane and B5376 Mesnes Street.

• Slag Lane, Lowton, near the household recycling centre

• Scot Lane, Wigan

• A580 East Lancashire Road (Manchester bound) between St Helens boundary and Park Road

• Stirling Close, Higher Folds

The council said further updates on the roads will be provided.

Northern has also advised customers not to travel before noon on many of its routes due to increasingly poor conditions following torrential rain across the region.

Routes covering north of Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria are affected by this "Do Not Travel" alert.

A number of routes have experienced issues with flooding, and several have seen closures and significant disruption. Affected services include Liverpool to Wigan.

Chris Jackson, Regional Director at Northern, said: “We have worked for the last few days, in conjunction with colleagues from across the industry, to keep our services operating. And, where possible we have supported those services with replacement buses when the flooding meant running trains was impossible.

“Unfortunately, we have had to make the difficult to advise our customers that they should not travel before Thursday 12pm across many of our north west routes. The areas affected are those north of Manchester, Cumbria and Lancashire. Many of our services south of Manchester are still currently planned to run with some exceptions.

“The situation is constantly changing so I urge anyone who needs to make essential journeys over the next few days to allow extra time for travel and to check carefully before setting off.”

Flood waters are also affecting roads across the region meaning the provision of rail replacement transport is also challenging.

The Environment Agency issued a flood warning for Borsdane and Hockery Brook in Hindley, with residents warned flooding was "expected" on land next to Borsdane Brook, between Rayner Park and Rockingham Drive.

There is also a flood warning in place for Honksford Brook, in Mosley Common, where flooding was anticipated at properties on Worsley Business Park and Mosley Common Road.

Fire chiefs have also urged people to only call 999 in an emergency.

North West Fire Control, which handles emergency calls for Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire and Greater Manchester fires services, said it was receiving a "high volume of calls" on Wednesday evening (January 20).

People were asked to contact local authorities to report flooding and request sandbags, leaving 999 for emergencies only.

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