Although Sefton is not due to be badly affected by Storm Babet, a long period of persistent rain starting in the early hours of Friday 20th October and continuing through the day possibly into Saturday could lead to a rise in water levels and potential flooding.
A Yellow weather warning, the lowest category, for rain that covers the North West, including Sefton, has been issued by the Met Office. Currently it lasts from midnight tonight until early Saturday morning.
Some areas of Sefton are prone to flooding if rivers overflow during periods of heavy and persistent rain and Sefton Council is reminding residents that information and advice can be found on its website at www.sefton.gov.uk/flooding.
There are also links to The Flood Hub at https://thefloodhub.co.uk, where people can sign up for alerts and find information for communities to manage flood and coastal risk across the North West.
While Sefton is not experiencing the worst of the weather this time, it is likely that further storms will hit the UK over the coming months.
Because of this, the council encourages residents to visit its Flooding Pages at www.sefton.gov.uk/flooding and if they find they do live in an area likely to be affected, to follow the advice and make preparations to protect their properties.
Merseyrail expects severe weather to cause disruption to Chester and Ellesmere Port lines
A Merseyrail train at Southport Train Station. Photo by Andrew Brown Stand Up For Southport
The Met Office has issued a series of yellow and amber alerts for the region from midday on Friday 20 October, warning of very heavy rain and bringing the likelihood of some flooding and disruption.
The worst of the forecast weather is expected to cause significant disruption to the Chester and Ellesmere Port lines on the Merseyrail network.
Anyone planning to travel on Merseyrail tomorrow is advised to check before travelling and to not make any unnecessary journeys.
Contingency work is being undertaken by Network Rail and Merseyrail, but it is likely that trains may be replaced by rail replacement buses from 11:00, on routes between Rock Ferry – Chester and Rock Ferry – Ellesmere Port. Roads may also be affected by the bad weather, and this could impact on the rail replacement bus service.
If the weather does improve Merseyrail will work hard to get services restored as soon as possible
The latest information will be available via the Merseyrail website at www.merseyrail.org , the Merseyrail app or following Merseyrail on twitter @Merseyrail.
Neil Grabham, Managing Director at Merseyrail, said: “As a rail operator our first priority is the safety of our customers and staff. Given the weather warnings from the Met Office, we are taking steps to warn our customers in advance of likely disruption tomorrow.
“Our team and colleagues from Network Rail will be working overnight and throughout tomorrow to provide the best service possible, but the weather forecast tomorrow afternoon does look particularly poor.
“I’d urge our customers to check for the latest information before they travel by using official Merseyrail channels, such as our website, app and social media.”
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