After days of cloud and rain, the skies over Manchester and beyond erupted in a blaze of colour tonight. It prompted people to stop what they were doing and take pictures of a spectacular sunset.
Among them was Manchester Evening News reader Greg Mape, 60, who was driving his Citroen 2CV through Prestbury when the fiery sky in front of him prompted him to stop and take a picture.
Greg, who is an engineer in a silicone chip plant, was returning home after taking pictures of a steam locomotive heading through Cheshire on its way to the East Lancs Railway at Bury. He said: “I just had to stop. I just pulled up near a field and there was this uninterrupted view of the sky. It was spectacular.”
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Other shared their sunset pictures, many of them taken at Manchester Airport, on social media. Among them was Gareth Worthington who posted a beautiful panorama of the lightly fading across Manchester city centre, taken from Ancoats.
Manchester Evening News photographer Jason Roberts took a picture of a spectacular sunset over fields in Irlam.
The respite from the recent gloom is set to be brief, with forecaster predicting a deluge across much of the north west tomorrow.
The Met Office has issued a ‘yellow’ weather warning with heavy rain expected across much of the north west including Greater Manchester.
A picture of the sunset over Prestbury, Cheshire, taken by Greg Mape -Credit:Greg Mape
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.
“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.
A picture of the sunset over Manchester city centre -Credit:@garethmanc
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.
A picture of the sunset over Prestbury, Cheshire, taken by Greg Mape -Credit:Greg Mape
“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.”