The Met Office has issued a ‘yellow’ weather warning with heavy rain expected across much of the north west including Greater Manchester.
Forecaster say the expected deluge could cause disruption, flooding and power cuts as revellers head out to begin their new year celebrations.
The alert covers much of the north west and north Wales, covering a period from 6pm on December 31 until 6pm on New Year’s Day.
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“Heavy rain is likely to lead to disruption across Wales and northwest England, with a chance that some locations may experience flooding,” says the Met Office alert.
It went on that there is a ‘slight chance’ of power cuts and a ‘small chance’ homes or businesses could be flooded. Motorists are also being warned that ‘spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures’.
Meanwhile public transport is ‘likely to be affected with journey times taking longer’.
It continued: “Beginning on Tuesday (New Year’s Eve), persistent and at times heavy rainfall is expected as a band of rain becomes slow-moving across the region, accompanied by strong winds.
“There remains a bit of uncertainty around how this evolves on Wednesday morning, which will impact final rainfall totals, but rain is expected to clear to the southeast through Wednesday afternoon. 30-50 mm is expected fairly widely, with 60-80 mm across west-facing hills.
“There is a chance a few locations could see in excess of 100mm during the event, with north Wales the most likely region to see these larger totals.”