There are nine flood alerts and one flood warning in York and North Yorkshire this morning (Wednesday, 1 January).
It comes as the River Ouse in York is forecast to rise sharply.
And flooding elsewhere in the north is causing travel problems for the city’s rail passengers.
At 9.12am today, the Environment Agency issued this flood alert for the Upper River Ouse: “River levels are rising in response to recent heavy rainfall.
“Flooding is possible today. Areas most at risk include riverside footpaths and low-lying land in York and to the south, as far as Naburn Lock, including King’s Staith, Queen’s Staith, and South Esplanade. Some further light rainfall is expected today.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and will issue flood warnings if necessary. Avoid using low lying footpaths and any bridges near local watercourse and do not attempt to walk, drive or cycle through flood water.”
The Viking Recorder showed the level of the River Ouse in central York at 1.73m at 9am – the top of the normal range is 1.9m.
It predicts the Ouse rising sharply to 4.77m by 6pm tomorrow (Thursday, 2 January), which is very high.
However, these forecasts aren’t always accurate as they are done via computer modelling which “means that sometimes it does not represent the current state of the catchment well enough without being adjusted by a flood forecaster.”
The flood warning is for the River Ure at Boroughbridge Camping and Caravanning Site.
The other flood alerts are:
- Lower River Derwent
- Lower River Nidd catchment
- Lower River Swale
- Lower River Ure
- Lower River Wharfe
- Middle River Aire catchment
- Middle River Nidd catchment
- River Rye catchment
Due to flooding in the North West, TransPennine Express urged customers on its services not to travel before noon today.
It said flooding was causing “significant issues” in Greater Manchester and Cheshire.
Trains will not operate between Manchester Airport and the city’s stations, as well as routes between Manchester to Liverpool Lime Street and from both Liverpool and Manchester to York.