'Monsoon' rain, elderly woman rescued from home, tram chaos and flood alerts as yet another sudden thunderstorm hits region

Greater Manchester faced another sudden thunderstorm on Sunday evening (June 18) that brought 'monsoon' rain, flood alerts and an elderly woman stranded in her house.

Flash floods caused roads around the region to become flooded, as drivers waded through water on submerged streets, with trees also falling and crashing down onto tram lines, resulting in delays on the network.

An elderly woman, whose house was flooded on Water Street in Radcliffe, was rescued by fire crews as the road was blocked off, with residents reporting a wave of 'monsoon'-like rain.

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In the second thunderstorm in less than 24 hours, the Met Office had issued a yellow weather warning across the UK on Sunday evening, with the previous sunny and clear conditions giving way to the thunder, rain and lightning. People were warned that roads were likely to flood with delays or cancellations seen across public transport.

And the Environment Agency issued an urgent flood alert for the Upper River Irwell catchment area that encompassed parts of Oldham, Bolton, Rochdale, Haslingden, Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall. The warning predicted that roads and footpaths near rivers and streams were likely to flood with specialist incident response teams actively monitoring the developing situation.

It wasn't just in Greater Manchester that the adverse weather caused issues, with rides suddenly halted and closed at Alton Towers, as soaking wet customers wearing ponchos were seen being guided off roller coasters by staff.

Meteorologists warned that people should expect 'sudden flooding' which could cause difficult driving conditions and 'some road closures', with potential delays or cancellations to