Yahoo Finance Sheffield residents urged to 'stay inside' ahead of horrendous downpours across north of England
Residents in Sheffield have been warned to stay inside as a huge deluge of rain and flooding swept across northern England - with more torrential downpours expected to hit the city overnight.
The city bore the brunt of the wet weather, with motorists abandoning their cars and people evacuating homes and businesses due to dangerous flooding, with the Met Office releasing amber weather warnings, which are in place until Friday.
Rain in Sheffield and other parts of South and West Yorkshire have left streets like rivers and some routes impassable.
Train services have been affected by flooding across the Pennines and South Yorkshire and tram-train services between Rotherham and Sheffield have also been hit by the weather.
And after an afternoon of misery, a local councillor has warned residents that the situation “will get worse tonight”.
Councillor Mark Jones, cabinet member for environment, streetscene and climate change, said the city is struggling to cope with dangerous levels of water.
He said: “The rain is going to get worse again tonight. We have a full emergency service running and we are monitoring the situation as best we can but we are inundated.
“It’s all hands on deck, everything is being activated and mobilised but the fire service and Amey are working at full capacity.
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“There is extensive flooding throughout the north of Sheffield. Stay inside and think twice about travelling. It is not a night to be out on the roads.”
Councillor Jones said rivers bursting their banks were a particular worry - and warned residents to “stay home, stay warm and dry and stay safe”
The Met Office has issued an amber warning for heavy rain until 6am on Friday for an area between Sheffield, Manchester and Bradford.
It has also issued yellow warnings for surrounding regions as it said 40mm of rain had fallen in the Sheffield area between midnight and noon on Thursday.
Weather agency meteorologist Craig Snell said it could be that the total level could hit 100mm by Friday morning.
Mr Snell said driving conditions would continue to be challenging in West and South Yorkshire as well as across the Pennines and Manchester into Friday.
South Yorkshire Police issued alerts including one which said: “Please adjust your driving to suit the extreme conditions during the next 24 hours.
“We have more rain forecast and many roads have standing water which varies in depth, so please drive with caution and reduce speed to allow time to react.”
A separate alert read: “Please try and avoid Rivelin Valley Road. Between Malin Bridge and Rails Road there are several large floods which are very deep in areas.”
