Devastating floods in the north of England saw the city centres of Leeds and Manchester partially submerged after more than a month of rain fell in just a few hours.

The Met Office has issued 'danger to life' flood warnings as the army is called in to evacuate residents in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Villages such as Whalley and Ribchester were left waist deep in water after a Boxing Day morning deluge which saw five inches of rain come down.

Ilkley in West Yorkshire has also been left
completely cut off while other Yorkshire towns such as Hebden Bridge,

Todmorden and Skip tonare also affected.

But in dramatic scenes the city centres of
Manchester and Leeds were also left partially underwater.

Eyewitness Darren Collingwood, 42, told the Manchester Evening News :

"It’s just chaos. The water was everywhere. We were just walking
over the footbridge when we saw it. It was
unbelievable."

A spokeswoman for Lowry Hotel said there were no plans to evacuate. “There is is still quite a bit to go before it gets into the hotel.

"We’ve had this before about six or seven years ago where the rear of the hotel was flooded like that In Leeds, Twitter users posted pictures of the Clarence Dock area of the city centre left submerged by flood water after the River Aire burst its banks.

People were urged to stay away from the area by firefighters tackling flooding across Greate Manchester.

Chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue.Authority, Coun David Acton, said: “Are thoughts are with those who have been affected by flooding today – we are working tirelessly across the North West to protect life and property.


More at http://ceo.nairaboards.com/p/317278/uk-weather-floods-hit-manchester-and-leeds-city-centres