A major incident has been declared in South Yorkshire as Storm Christoph is set to bring widespread flooding, gales and snow to parts of the UK.
An amber weather warning for heavy rain is in place from Tuesday to Thursday for central northern England, affecting an area around Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield and stretching down to Peterborough.
In South Yorkshire, a major incident has been declared and people are being warned they need to prepare for potential flooding and possible evacuations.
Doncaster mayor Ros Jones said emergency protocols were instigated on Sunday, with sandbags handed out in flood-risk areas.
“I do not want people to panic, but flooding is possible so please be prepared,” she tweeted.
Catherine Wright, acting executive director for flood and coastal risk management at the Environment Agency, said: “Rain is falling on very wet ground and so we are very concerned that it’s a very volatile situation and we are expecting significant flooding to occur on the back of that weather.”
“If you do need to evacuate then that is allowed within the Covid rules the government has,” she added.
“The local authorities and emergency services will operate any evacuations locally, they will provide instructions to anybody who’s unfortunately in that position and it’s important to follow and do exactly what they say.”
Ms Wright said the Environment Agency will deploy pumps, barriers and other equipment, while the opening of flood storage reservoirs is also being prepared.
The Met Office has warned that heavy rain overnight on Tuesday could cause flood damage to some homes and businesses.
Up to 70mm is expected to fall but in isolated spots, particularly in the northern Peak District and parts of the southern Pennines, 200mm could be possible.
Forecasters have issued a 'danger to life' warning due to fast-flowing or deep floodwater, which could cut road access to some communities.
The Environment Agency has issued 10 flood warnings covering parts of Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire as of Monday night, with a further 109 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across northern England, the Midlands and the east.
A yellow rain alert is also in place for most of northern England and Wales from Tuesday to Wednesday, while a yellow weather warning for snow and ice is in force in Scotland from Dundee to Elgin and across the east coast from Wednesday afternoon until midday on Thursday.
