Lapland venue evacuated as storm hits region

Engineers are out trying to clear tram and train lines across the region

People have been evacuated from a Lapland UK venue in the north west of England as Storm Claudia causes travel disruption across the region.

The company behind the Christmas experience only opened its second site near Macclesfield on Thursday and expected huge visitor numbers

But the organisers of Lapland Manchester said severe weather caused falling trees meant guests has to be evacuated as a precaution as the site was closed earlier.

It comes as trams and trains across the region were cancelled as lines were blocked or damaged by falling trees.

Strong winds brought by Storm Claudia have caused multiple trees to fall

In Greater Manchester, fallen trees closed tram services between Whitefield and Bury, and between Westwood and Newton Heath & Moston.

Transport for Greater Manchester said it had engineers on both sites working to fix the damage.

A tree has also blocked all lines on the railway between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, with TransPennineExpress warning of delays of up to 30 minutes.

Avanti West Coast has cancelled some trains due to "speed restrictions applied by Network Rail" as a result of the storm, a spokesperson said.

They added: "There is then a risk of further disruption on the rail network due to this extreme weather, especially in the North West."

Northern Rail has also advised passengers not to travel if possible as major disruption is expected, with heavy rain and winds expected to continue into Saturday.

'Public risk'

The Christmas site near Macclesfield at Capesthorne Halls is Lapland UK's second site, and comes after the success of its first site, Lapland Ascot.

"The safety of our visitors and staff is paramount, and we cannot operate while there is any risk of injury to the public," a spokesperson said.

They said families with cancelled tickets would be contacted by the company and it would reopen the site "as soon as it is safe to do so."

There was also a warning that rising river levels could bring flooding to low-lying parts of the North West issued by the Environment Agency earlier.

It extends to the River Mersey catchment area in the south of Greater Manchester, as well as to upland areas by the rivers Goyt and Tame around Hyde, Ashton-under-Lyne, Denton, Stalybridge and Glossop.

Similar warnings are also in place for the River Ditton by Widnes, the River Gowy in Frodsham, and the River Alt in Formby, along with parts of Wirral.

Earlier in the day people had to be rescued from their cars after a tree fell in Macclesfield.

Three houses were also evacuated after a different fallen tree in the town of Bollington, Cheshire.