LONDON — Parts of the United Kingdom were flooded Wednesday as heavy rains and powerful winds continued to disrupt New Year’s celebrations.
Several communities in the Manchester area were flooded, with several homes evacuated and cars submerged up to their roofs on roads and in parking lots after nearly a month's worth of rain fell in two days.
A major incident was declared and mountain rescue teams were called in to help firefighters respond to swamped properties and stranded vehicles, Greater Manchester Police said.
“There’s still probably likely to be further flooding across the course of the day," Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said. “We are potentially expecting the flood situation to get worse before it gets better.”
Tom Coulthard said the rain started late Tuesday afternoon and poured all night where he lives in Didsbury, south of Manchester, topping river banks and forcing a hotel to be evacuated before dawn. Roads and highways were closed in the area.
“All the local rivers and water courses have sort of filled up and flooded around the area," said Coulthard, a geography professor at the University of Hull. “That’s really probably a sign of just how our weather is changing, how climate is shifting."
The deluge and gusts derailed New Year's Eve fireworks celebrations, leading to cancelations in Edinburgh and several other cities. Events planned for New Year's Day, including nippy outdoor swims and a bathtub boat race, were scrapped.
London, which was able to launch its massive fireworks display on the River Thames in front of Big Ben, had to postpone the start of its New Year’s Day parade and grounded inflatable floats due to the blustery and soggy conditions.
Cheerleaders and members of bands that marched through central London pulled transparent coverings over their bright costumes to take shelter from rain.
Warnings that indicate flooding is expected were issued at one point to more than 150 communities across the U.K., with most being in northern England. Later in the day, dozens of those warnings had been lifted.
Several trains were canceled because of high water around the tracks and some highways were closed.
With temperatures dropping, there were ice warnings until late Thursday morning for Northern Ireland, parts of north Wales, England and Scotland. And a three-day snow warning was issued for the coming weekend for much of England and Scotland.
