Chaos as high winds cause flooding and damage

Travel has been severely disrupted and thousands of homes have been left without power as gales and heavy downpours have caused havoc around Rochdale.

Whitehall Street was closed by police after slates came off houses and damaged Infirmary staff vehicles. One nurse was injured when the boot of her car blew shut on her head.

The Council were quick to react to an incident at the junction of Bury Road and Norden Road where a tree was blown over, working with the emergency services to clear the road.  It is believed that no one was injured in the incident.

Trees were also uprooted in other parts of the Borough including two in Castleton close to Manchester Road.

Police had to stop vehicles and pedestrians from passing a building on the corner of Lincoln Street and Durham Street as the roof of the building was coming off due to the gales.

Bury Road was seriously flooded at the junction with Mellor Street, the CTV electronics shop once again taking the brunt.

There was a flooding problem in Littleborough despite the recently built flood defences and Council workers were on the scene handing out sand bags.

A power cut also left homes in Littleborough without electricity, those affected inlcuded the Leonard Cheshire Home on Halifax Road which was without electricity and phones for at over an hour. Social Services were quick to offer to move residents however the power was restored before this proved necessary.

One family in Littleborough lost the gable end of their house - no one is believed to have been injured.

BBC weather forecaster Daniel Corbett said the winds had now moved into the North Sea and "we can see the light at the end of the tunnel" as far as the bad weather is concerned.

Friday is expected to be calmer but the country could be facing a cold snap next week.

Despite an unusually mild start to January, forecasters have warned that temperatures are likely to plummet beyond the weekend.