1,773 lose power and North Staffordshire roads under water as Storm Bert strikes

More than 1,700 homes around North Staffordshire have lost power today as Storm Bert has ripped across the area. And flood alerts have also been issued for various places across the county following hours of heavy rainfall.

In addition drivers have been encountering various roads left under water - including the A34 on the outskirts of Talke which has had to be closed along with the A53 on the outskirts of Leek. It comes after overnight wintry weather had thawed out to a backdrop of rising temperatures and hours of heavy rain.

Families have not just been drenched as gusts of around 45mph were expected earlier this morning. But that came after a night of wintry conditions for many in North Staffordshire while it's been reported some parts of the Moorlands even saw around 12cm of snow.

READ MORE: 'End of an era' as North Staffordshire village's historic tree 'ripped up'

READ MORE: Live updates as police at scene of North Staffordshire smash

That even saw a stretch of the A53 Buxton Road being closed with the Cat and Fiddle Road also being shut due to the sheer amount of snow. As the morning progressed and that snow turned into heavy rain.

StokeonTrentLive reported how police were called to the A34 between the A500 turn-off and Parkhouse Industrial Estate where the northbound carriageway was closed. There have been other reports of flood-hit roads with Ashbourne Road in both Lowe Hill on the outskirts of Leek, and further along into Bradnop, under water but passable.

Into this afternoon and the A53 between the turn-off for Thorncliffe and the Three Horseshoes fell victim to flooding and was closed. Meteorologists had warned that the rapidly thawing snow could well lead to flooding and disruption.

Flood alerts have also been issued for areas around the River Trent in the city, rivers Churnet and Tean near Kingsley Holt and in the south of the county, the rivers Sow and Penk.

The conditions have also seen a total of 1,773 lose power with the vast majority in Stafford with other outages in Oulton, Gillow Heath and Ashley. Engineers with National Grid have managed to restore electricity to the vast majority while at the time of reporting and properties in Oulton and Ashley are awaiting for power to return.

According to the latest forecast from the Met Office and today's downpours will stop at around 8pm but heavy downpours are expected in the early hours of Sunday that will last to 9am - with gusts expected to get up to around 44mph.

North Staffordshire remains under a yellow warning for rain and snow that came in at 4am this morning and will run through to 9am on Sunday. Meteorologists say Storm Bert is 'slow moving' and won't fully clear until Monday.

Jason Kelly, chief meteorologist with the Met Office said: “Storm Bert is what we call a ‘multi-hazard event’, bringing snow, rain and wind to the UK for the majority of the weekend. Multiple National Severe Weather Warnings are in place and will be added to and amended over the weekend. It’s possible this may be at short notice, so it is important people keep up to date with the very latest forecast.”

For all the latest on the impact of Storm Bert in North Staffordshire follow our live blog here.

Get daily headlines and breaking news emailed to you - it’s FREE