MORE HEAVY RAIN PREDICTED

Heavy showers overnight caused isolated flooding in parts of the region. Manchester Road in Handforth, was closed in both directions between Wilmslow Road and Dean Drive this morning.

Southern parts of Greater Manchester and Northern Cheshire are expected to be worst hit by torrential rainstorms, according to the Environment Agency.

The whole of the region was put on flood alert, along with Yorkshire, the North East and the Midlands, yesterday.

Forecasters said it was difficult to predict where the heaviest rain would fall but this morning they said southern parts of the region were expected to bear the brunt in the next few hours.

They say thundery storms and torrential rain, possibly up to 70mm, could cause travel chaos and river flooding.

The rain is expected to pass through the region by nightfall with only light showers predicted for tomorrow

Charlie Powell, from the Met Office said: “We expect the southern half of Greater Manchester and Northern Cheshire to have the heaviest rainfall around late morning, although the whole of the north Midlands and South Pennine area will have heavy rain for most of the day.

“The worst rain is expected around lunchtime and this will move towards northern parts of Greater Manchester and Lancashire during the early afternoon.

“The worst of the weather will move north to Scotland by teatime and we are expecting a fairly dry evening, with only a few isolated showers tomorrow and on Sunday.”

Simon Sheldon-Wilson, Director of Traffic Management at the Highways Agency, said: