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In pictures: People ordered to evacuate homes as Storm Christoph causes flooding chaos

Hundreds of people were told to evacuate their homes after Storm Christoph continued to cause chaos across large parts of the country.

Residents in the East Didsbury, West Didsbury and Northenden areas of Greater Manchester were told to leave their homes on Wednesday night because of rising water levels, while people in parts of Ruthin and Bangor-on-Dee in north Wales and Maghull in Merseyside were also advised to evacuate.

Nearly 200 flood warnings were still in place across England on Thursday morning, with four “severe” warnings – meaning danger to life – issued for the North West.

Major incidents had already been declared in Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire amid amber and yellow weather warnings for the storm.

Boris Johnson said 10,000 homes in Didsbury had been protected by the Environment Agency’s improvised flood defences.

But he warned: “There will be more to come, there will be further rain next week, so it is vital that people who are in potentially affected areas follow the advice and get the Environment Agency flood alerts where they can.”

Following heavy rain and snow, Greater Manchester Police warned of the risk of “treacherous ice” on the roads and urged drivers to be cautious and only travel if essential.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, North Wales Police began evacuating residents from their homes in Bangor-on-Dee after a severe flood warning was issued for the village by Natural Resources Wales.

The Environment Agency said flood defences had protected properties near the River Mersey.

Lee Rawlinson, from the agency, told BBC Breakfast: “At Didsbury, the River Mersey got to very high levels very quickly, the water was pouring through there.

“What we did as an organisation, we have a couple of flood basins that we employed there, they took the water away. It took the peak of the water off.

“The top of the river came within centimetres of the top of the river bank but our defences there have served their purpose and kept those properties dry.”