Flood alert issued for River Ribble and Darwen at Preston

Preston skyline in the background, with flooded Walton le Dale in foreground Pic: Hamza Asmal — Preston skyline in the background, with flooded Walton le Dale in foreground during the Boxing Day floods Pic: Hamza Asmal

A flood alert has been issued covering Walton-le-Dale and other areas to the south and east of Preston.

Update: The flood alert was withdrawn shortly before 8am on Saturday (18 March). Rain on Saturday is not due to be as persistent as Friday, so the river levels will rise but not as high as first thought.

Advertisements

The Environment Agency says heavy rain has made flooding possible on a stretch of the River Ribble from Samlesbury.

It is warning homeowners in the area to ‘be prepared’ as the Ribble continues to swell, along with the River Darwen.

The Darwen where it comes through Higher Walton and into Walton-le-Dale also has the flood warning applied to it from 8pm on Friday (17 March).

Advertisements

Preston has seen consistent rain throughout Friday (13 March) and the river level at Samlesbury has begun to rise rapidly.

From 4pm to 8pm on Friday it has risen to 2.6metres. Flooding is possible when it reaches 4.83m.

The weather forecast for Preston shows rain continuing throughout Saturday and into Sunday, with sunshine and showers on Monday and Tuesday.

The highest recorded river level at Samlesbury was 6.56metres during the Boxing Day floods in 2015.