‘Floating cars’ and emergency rescues: Huge floods left Manchester engulfed in water

Severe flooding in parts of Manchester city centre, Didsbury and Stockport has left a wake of destruction across the city.

Residents in some areas have been evacuated, whilst others have had to travel by canoe due to waist high flooding.

Footage of cars being engulfed by flood water have circulated online, as many homes and businesses have been wrecked after heavy rain.

@hannahbeauc

if you’re looking for my car it’s underwater 🥲 #flood

♬ sonido original – Kim ❀

Hannah, a user on TikTok, shared the view from her apartment in Manchester after a nearby river burst its banks. Cars parked outside were barely visible, with many only visible by their roofs after water rose during at around 4am on January 1st.

Emergency services were called to help distribute supplies, as well as help evacuate residents. In Hannah’s video, a boat can be seen winching bottled water to higher flats.

Hannah shared another video walking around inside her building, where water was almost knee deep. She filmed two parcels floating around on the floor, one of which was an ASOS parcel.

@hannahbeauc

holding space for the asos parcel 😔 #flood @asos

♬ My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme from “Titanic”) – Céline Dion

Captioning the clip “holding space for the ASOS parcel”, Hannah waded through the murky water which was almost covering the electrical sockets. 

ASOS saw the funny side of the ordeal, commenting “When the delivery’s been 84 years”.

Residents were evacuated from their homes and the TransPennine Express issued a “do not travel” warning throughout the north of England.

via SWNS

One resident, 28-year-old Ell Henderson, was evacuated yesterday from Meadow Mill in Stockport. She explained how she awoke to mass flooding on New Year’s Day after being out the night before.

Ell said: “We’d been out for New Year’s Eve but when we got back last night, it wasn’t anything like it is now.

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“It must’ve started around 3:30am. Then at around 7:30am, the power went out, and we walked into our front room to find out what was going on.

“We looked out the window, and it was like a swimming pool outside – the water was about a foot deep. We ran into someone else in the hall, who said they’d been advised to stay inside and wait for further updates.”

“Four hours later, we went to the main reception and saw emergency services blowing up rafts.

“We heard they were preparing to make evacuations.”

via SWNS

Explaining that she has somewhere else to stay, Ell added that many people in her building will not have alternative accommodation: “Luckily, I have family to go to after being evacuated – not everyone in this block will have that luxury.”

“The fact I’ve still got a couple of Proseccos still in me has taken the edge of this situation. Give me a couple of hours and I think the horror of the start of 2025 is going to sink in.”

Others were rescued in Didsbury on Palatine Road, with residents being transported on similar red boats.

@tonysopranogoat

Caught in a flash flood, you’ll never sing that. Absolute goated excursion. #FYP #Manchesterflood #man #mcr

♬ original sound – 𝓘𝓿𝔂 ✞

Following the Manchester floods on New Year’s Day, two men documented their rescue as emergency service workers wearing waders and protective gear pulled them through the flood waters.

Captioned “Mythical side quest in west Dids”, the user explained that they were “caught in a flash flood” and called the ordeal an “absolute goated excursion”.

Greater Manchester Police declared the flooding a major incident, with some 16 flood warnings or alerts in place.

@romeoroams

2025 in Manchester starting strong 👀💀 #manchester #floods #manchesterfloods #NY2025 #castlefield

♬ original sound – Romeo

The warning following the New Year’s Day floods in Manchester read: “We are closely monitoring the situation and monitoring rainfall and river levels. Take care and avoid walking, cycling or driving through flood water.

“Don’t put yourself or others at risk.”

Featured image via TikTok and SWNS