Flood alerts issued in Northern England as rain disrupts the Ashes and the Open

Flood alerts have been issued across northern England as heavy rain batters the region.

Sporting events, including the Ashes and the Open, as well as music festivals have been impacted by the wet conditions.

Twelve local areas in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Yorkshire have received alerts, and there are also isolated alerts in Leicestershire and Middlesbrough.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said “minor surface water flooding impacts” is possible in those areas, but that the overall flood risk for England and Wales is “very low” over the next five days.

Major sporting events in Northern England including the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford and the Open Championship at Hoylake have already been affected by showers.

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At the Open, heavy rain made for difficult golfing conditions, as American Brian Harman hoped to turn his commanding lead into victory on the final day of play.

At Old Trafford, play was suspended, with covers pulled across the cricket square, and puddles appearing on the outfield. The majority of supporters were absent from the stands.

Music festivals have also been affected by the wet weather. Bluedot Festival, which is taking place over the weekend at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire and is headlined by Grace Jones, announced it was unable to accommodate Sunday day ticket holders, as arena conditions only allowed the programme to go ahead “for people already here”.

Bluedot organisers wrote on Twitter: “We’ve had an unprecedented amount of rainfall over the past seven days that has seen the water level reach saturation point during the night, rendering our day ticket holder car park, pick-up and drop-off point and entrances impassable due to standing water.

“We have worked hard this weekend and throughout last night, laying over 1.5km of additional track mat and track way, 130 tonnes of sustainably sourced wood chip and bringing multiple trucks on site to pump out standing water.”

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Tramlines festival in Sheffield said the opening of its final day was delayed because “essential work” was needed. Several performances at the start of the day were cancelled by the organisers, while bands including Kaiser Chiefs are still due to perform.

The Met Office said a large band of rain would sit across the central part of the UK, particularly northern England and Wales, for much of the day.

Marco Petagna, a Met Office meteorologist, said: “Certainly localised flooding is quite possible.

“The rain warning we have out now until midnight certainly suggests the potential for standing water on the roads, so journey times could be impacted, and there could be some disruption for local bus and train services.”

He added that more wet and windy weather was due to arrive from the west in the middle of next week, with the outlook “staying unsettled” and thunderstorms and further flood risk possible.

The Met Office said the UK was on track to have its dullest July on record, with noticeably less sunshine than average over the month.

It is a marked contrast to the weather in June, which the Met Office said was the hottest on record in the UK, with an average mean temperature of 15.8°C.