United Kingdom ready for wrath of Storm Christoph with major incidents declared

A yellow weather warning for rain has been issued in Suffolk and north Essex - with travel disruption and flooding expected later in the week.

People living in the North West are being urged to prepare for the risk of significant flooding for the rest of this week.

"There are already parts of Cumbria that have already seen over 80mm of rain since midnight on Tuesday and there's a large number of places that have seen 50mm, and we are going to see further rain over the next 24 to 36 hours".

"20-50 mm of rain is expected to fall widely across the warning area, with 50-80 mm over the Moors in the Southwest".

Assistant Chief Constable Nick Bailey, Chair of the GM Strategic Coordination Group for Storm Christoph, said: "In order to ensure that we're as prepared as possible for the heavy rainfall expected from Storm Christoph, we have declared a major incident".

The Met Office said some isolated areas could see up to 200mm (7.8in).

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.

"I want to thank the Environment Agency and our emergency services for the work they're doing to support those communities, and I'll be chairing a Cobra meeting later on to co-ordinate the national response".

Severe flood warnings - meaning there is a risk to life - have been issued by the Environment Agency for the River Mersey at East and West Didsbury, and Northenden, south of Manchester city centre, as well as the River Bollin at Heatley and Little Bollington.

The Met Office has warned homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, causing damage to some buildings.

Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern, said: "Unfortunately the situation is only getting worse and we have had to make the hard decision to ask our customers not to travel on the Northern Rail network in the north-west for the rest of today".

"Wet snow at low levels may lead to icing on infrastructure, such as power lines".