PARTS of Bolton and Bury have been hit by flooding after a deluge of rain.
The Beehive Roundabout in Horwich is almost covered in water.
Mohammad Umair, owner of JB Minibuses, captured the severe flooding on film and saw a white BMW stranded in the middle of the road.
Ramsbottom and Summerseat have also been badly affected.
The former Waterside Pub in Summerseat has collapsed.
Emergency services are in Summerseat and I am told have strategy in place. Fire service, police and Bury MBC working together
— James Daly (@cllrjamesdaly) December 26, 2015
River Irwell, Summerseat, Waterside collapsed. road closed hope bridge holds up pic.twitter.com/pyUJhi4CQ4
— Jim Metcalf (@jimrmet) December 26, 2015
Beehive roundabout at Horwich pic.twitter.com/uVLH7jF36l
— emma davies (@emmadavies68) December 26, 2015
Just past the Beehive roundabout in Horwich. Picture from Facebook. pic.twitter.com/hbzSKSwHyR
— Richard McCormick (@RMc2407) December 26, 2015
Flooding in Ramsbottom. Stay away if possible pic.twitter.com/mM1gFZZpC6
— The Chocolate Cafe (@welovechocolate) December 26, 2015
Bury FC's home game against Barnsley has also been cancelled due to flooding.
You can read more about that here.
Greater Manchester Fire and rescue Service has warned people only to call 999 in a genuine emergency.
These are the areas we're responding to flood calls - please only call 999 if it's a genuine emergency #floodaware pic.twitter.com/V3izc8gDsY
— Manchester Fire (@manchesterfire) December 26, 2015
Peter O'Reilly from GMFRS said: "More than half of our fire engines are now dealing with weather related incidents within Greater Manchester."
Hope everyone is safe Waterside pub #Summerseat #Ramsbottom collapse flood https://t.co/NZb7IsJcG5
— RealHart (@Red2005Hart) December 26, 2015
@TheBoltonNews @HorwichGossip Foxholes Road Horwich pic.twitter.com/4O5BkIGyGu
— Jessica Lydon (@jesslydon) December 26, 2015
At 1.30pm, the Environment Agency had 81 flood alerts in place for the North West to warn people flooding is expected and immediate action is required.
They include the River Irwell at Summerseat - areas at risk include land and property at Hamer Terrace, Riverside Drive, Waterside Road, also at risk are properties on Railway Street and North View.
Also on alert is the River Irwell at Ramsbottom where river bank overtopping is expected. Areas at risk include the fire station, the treatment works, Great Eaves Road and Athol Street. Other areas at risk include Garden Street, Kenyon Street, Nuttall Park and Ramsbottom Football and Cricket grounds.
Firefighters are urging people to stay informed and stay safe after 18 flood alerts have been issued for the region by the Flood Warning Information Service.
Crew are currently responding to incidents in Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Salford and Ramsbottom and conditions are expected to deteriorate throughout the day.
Eleven parts of Greater Manchester have been issued with a warning, which means flooding is expected and action needs to be taken they are:
River Irwell at Pioneer Mills and Parkside Close
River Roch at Littleborough
River Irwell at Bury Ground
River Irwell at Prestolee and Ringley Bridges
Hey Brook at Rochdale, properties adjacent to the watercourse
Borsdane and Hockery Brook at Hindley
River Irwell at Summerseat, Riverside
River Irwell at Irwell Vale
Walsden Water at Walsden and Todmorden
River Spodden at Whitworth, Daniel Street
River Irwell at Strongstry and Chatterton
A further seven parts of Greater Manchester have been issued with a warning, which means flooding is possible and people should be prepared they are:
River Calder Upper Catchment
Lower River Ribble and Darwen
Lostock and Yarrow Catchment
River Colne, Holme and Fenay Beck
River Glaze catchment including Leigh and East Wigan
Lower River Irwell catchment including areas in Greater Manchester
Upper River Irwell catchment with Oldham, Bolton, Rochdale, Haslingden, Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall.
Chairman of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor David Acton, said: “Our thoughts are with those who have been affected by flooding today – we are working tirelessly across the North West to protect life and property.
“If you live in an affected area please do not travel and if you home has been flooded stay out of the water and wait for help.
“Flood water is extremely dangerous, it is dirty, can be fast flowing and often full of debris – the only way to stay safe is to stay out of the water.
“If you’re driving, see water on the road and don’t know how deep it is don’t drive through it – it only takes 30 cm of water to float a car and even less to write your car off.
“Our control operators are experiencing a high number of calls at the moment, so please only call 999 if it is a genuine emergency.”
Pictured below, River Irwell at Ringley, taken by Doug Collier
There are a number of road closures in place across the Bolton, Rochdale and Wigan areas.
The following roads either have closures in place or have been heavily affected by flooding so please try to avoid these areas as much as possible.
Bolton:
Hardy Mill Road junctions with Milford Road and Patterdale Road
Riverside Drive
Blackburn Road near to Ciao Baby restaurant
Lenham Gardens
Chorley New Road at junctions with Winter Claypool Road and near to Mortimer House
Thicketford Road
Beehive roundabout near to Ingersoll
Church Street West
Winchester Way
Crompton Way
Rigby Lane
Rochdale:
Bury Road junction with Mellor Street
Smithy Bridge Road
Milnrow Road junction with Fishwick Street
Todmorden Rod junctions with Victoria Street, Church Street and Temple Lane
Heywood Old Road junction with Langley Lane
Sir Issac Newton Way junction with Kingsway
Tweedale Street junction Manchester Road
Newhey Road, Milnrow
Todd Road
Wardle Road junction with Littleborough Road
Exmouth Street
Pilsworth Road, Heywood
Norden Road
Bamford Road near to Bamford Mews
Rochdale Valley Way
Beswick Road
Entwhistle Road near to Yorkshire Street
Two Bridges Road
Wigan
East Lancs Road near to junction with Higher Green Lane (Greyhound island) closed in both directions.
As well as these affected roads, trams are not running from Rochdale due to flooding on the lines. The Rochdale line reopens at Shaw and Crompton. Likewise the Bury line is closed up to Whitefield
The following football matches have also been postponed today:
Bury V Barnsley
Rochdale V Crewe
Altrincham V Chester
Wigan V Sheffield United
For more information about flooding in your area please click here or call the 24 hour Floodline on 0345 988 1188.
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