Around 2,000 homes and businesses in south Manchester are being asked to evacuate due to flooding fears caused by Storm Christoph tonight.
Police and firefighters are working with Manchester council to evacuate homes in East Didsbury, West Didsbury and Northenden.
Authorities have been monitoring water levels at the River Mersey throughout Wednesday and now believe it will peak at around 4am.
Hundreds of people will now be asked to leave as the Environment Agency has issued two 'severe' threat to life warnings for the area.
Those who are clinically vulnerable, positive for coronavirus or self-isolating, will be offered emergency accommodation in hotels.
Others will be able to go to Wythenshawe Forum if they can't stay with friends or relatives.
Greater Manchester Police assistant chief constable Nick Bailey said earlier in the day a large number of vulnerable people were being evacuted.
“We have identified about 160 people that will be moved," he said.
He added that up to 3,000 properties across the Greater Manchester region could be affected by tonight’s flooding
Some Didsbury residents have decided to stay put - for now.
Jo Pendlebury, who lives on Parrs Wood Road, said: "About 3.15pm, a police officer knocked on my door and they did suggest that we packed up and evacuate because we live about 20ft away from the entrance to the fields.
"The people on this side of Parrs Wood Road, their gardens have flooded.
"So we were very concerned. I’m going to stay put. I’ve done what they said on the leaflet, which was to secure the air bricks and lower ground floor.
"The police said 'you can go and stay with friends or family', but I am from Essex.
"So with lockdown rules I said I couldn’t, but the police said we are allowed to breach the rules because it relates to health and safety. But I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying put."
Some residents said they were reluctant to go to the homes of friends or family because of Covid.
Georgia Selby, who lives with her boyfriend on Glenmere Road, said they were staying put for now.
Georgia said: "We’ve got things ready to go and have put everything upstairs. We’re prepared. We’ve been coming out every hour since about 6pm to check the river.
"I could go to my mum’s around the corner, but I’d rather not because of coronavirus. I’m an estate agent so I work with members of the public. I don’t want to be mixing households really.
"It’s about making an informed decision."
A threat to life warning has been issued by the Environment Agency after heavy flooding hit parts of south Manchester, including Didsbury, Northenden and Chorlton.
Manchester council has urged people with the below postcodes to check the flood warning service: M20 2 / M20 5 / M21 7 / M21 8 / M21 9 / M22 4 .
Water levels continue to rise on the River Mersey during Storm Christoph.
Sally Sudworth, environment manager at the environment agency, said: “More heavy rain falling on already saturated ground will bring significant surface and river water flooding in parts of Greater Manchester today, tomorrow (Thursday) and into the weekend, which could cause damage to buildings in some communities.
"Environment Agency teams are out on the ground clearing grilles, screens, deploying temporary flood defences and closing flood barriers. We urge people to keep away from swollen rivers and not to drive through flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car."
Earlier, Manchester council said: "The GM Strategic Coordination Group for Storm Christoph and the Environment Agency have enacted a Severe Flood Warning covering parts of Didsbury, Chorlton and Northenden as levels of the River Mersey continue to rise.
"This level of flood warning means that evacuations have started due to the potential risk of flooding. There is also a particular focus on supporting vulnerable households.
"The council is working with colleagues in Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue and Environment Agency to proactively evacuate homes before any flooding has taken place, which is anticipated in the early hours of January 21.
"This is to ensure people’s safety.
"All flood basins have been opened, but river levels are expected to rise this evening and the decision has been made to evacuate people in a safe and controlled way this evening, rather than waiting to assess the flooding impact overnight."
