A YELLOW weather warning for heavy rain and possible flooding is in place for York and North Yorkshire this week as “Storm Christoph” hits.

Some areas of the UK could see up to 200mm of rain over the first half of the week which, coupled with snow melt, poses a serious risk of flooding in eastern parts.

Met Office chief meteorologist Dan Suri said: “Following a cold spell where the main hazard was snow, our focus now turns to notably heavy rain moving across the UK this week.

“Some locations could see over 100mm of rain falling through the course of just a couple of days. with up to 200mm possible over higher ground.

“These amounts of rainfall along with snow melt present a real threat of flooding and people should keep a close eye on flood warnings from the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales.”

In York there are currently two flood warnings in place.

The Environment Agency warnings apply to:

River Ouse at Naburn Lock

The River Ouse at York - riverside properties

The Foss barrier is in operation and flood gates are closed, including those on Railway Walk on Scarborough Bridge, making it inaccessible.

River levels in York are currently falling but are expected to rise again in the days ahead.

There is an amber weather warning for Tuesday and Wednesday for central northern England, affecting an area around Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield and stretching down to Peterborough.

Up to 70mm is expected to fall in that area but in isolated spots, particularly in the northern Peak District and parts of the southern Pennines, 200mm could be possible.

The warning says there is a “danger to life” due to fast-flowing or deep floodwater and a “good chance some communities cut off by flooded roads”.

A yellow rain alert is also in place for most of northern England and Wales from Tuesday to Wednesday, before most of the UK falls into the warning on Thursday.

The Environment Agency has issued 11 local flood warnings covering parts of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.

There are a further 61 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible in the area, although the number is expected to increase significantly as the impact of the first heavy rain is felt overnight.

The Environment Agency has urged people living in those areas to prepare for the risk of significant flooding as early as Tuesday morning, as the heavy rain hits already saturated ground.

Defences including temporary barriers and the opening of flood storage reservoirs are being prepared, the Environment Agency said.

Katharine Smith, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Environment Agency teams are out on the ground clearing grilles, screens and closing flood barriers.

“We urge people to keep away from swollen rivers and not to drive through flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.”

Rod Gardner, Northern Powergrid’s head of operational performance improvement and the company’s major incident manager, said: "With another spell of difficult weather conditions ahead as a result of Storm Christoph, we are once again ensuring that we are prepared and our people are ready to do what they need to do to maintain service to our customers, if the weather affects our operating area.

“We’ve implemented a range of actions, ensuring that our resource is ready and able to respond, our teams and specialist vehicles, tools and equipment are in place. We have also carried out thorough checks of the distribution network, inspecting assets that may fall into higher risk categories dictated by the potential weather impact, putting appropriate arrangements in place.  

“Being there for our customers every day is what we do and our people understand the responsibility and vital role they play in powering peoples’ lives – especially so as key workers during the pandemic. We will continue to monitor our operations 24/7 for any impacts so we can react and mobilise a response as soon as possible.

“Our network control engineers are ready to restore power supplies to customers remotely, moving electricity through alternative routes on our network wherever possible to get customers back on supply. Our dispatch teams will mobilise our frontline workforce to carry out any necessary local repair work using our COVID-19 Secure practices and procedures.”