Carol Holt, of the Environment Agency, said: “Intense, heavy rainfall this weekend brings a risk of flooding across the North West”.
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The Environment Agency warned that Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and North and West Yorkshire are the areas most at risk from significant river and localised surface water flooding on Saturday evening and into Sunday.
The flood risk comes as heavy and persistent rainfall – a month’s rain could fall on localised high ground – affects parts of northern England on Saturday evening and into Sunday.
The Environment Agency had only one flood warning for Cumbria on Friday morning, affecting Keswick camp site, but less-serious “flood alerts” were in force for Borrowdale and Derwent Water, the Lowther and Eamont rivers up to their confluence with the River Eden, and on the Cocker, Marron and Derwent in west Cumbria.
The depth gauge on the River Eden at the Sands Centre in Carlisle was showing 2.38m early on Friday, above the normal range but down from a peak of nearly 4m on Wednesday night.
“This flow is expected to bring a period of heavy and persistent rain, with 50-100 mm of rain falling in many areas, particularly across hills; a few upland areas are covered by a separate Amber warning”.
We have teams out on the ground, clearing blockages in rivers and culverts.
“We forecast for significant rainfall totals in the region and expect to see flooding to areas across Cumbria”. “Rain associated with this feature is expected to become heavy and persistent, especially over hills exposed to the strong westerly flow”.
People can sign up to receive free flood warnings for rivers, check their flood risk and keep up to date with the latest situation, including a three-day flood risk forecast on the GOV.UKwebsite athttps://www.gov.uk/check-if-youre-at-risk-of-flooding or via #floodaware on Twitter and Facebook.
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The outlook remains unsettled into next week.
