Liam Barnes
BBC News

A Chapel-en-le-Frith resident went to the town's high school to offer a room for the night to anyone who needed it.

Katherine Ardern said: "I just thought I’ve got two spare rooms tonight because my children are on holiday, so I thought I’d see if anyone wanted to stay.

"It’s not a nice situation, and I thought if I could offer some help then I would.

"It’s about community and about helping other people locally if you can."

Melissa Welliver, who has lived near Toddbrook Reservoir for 15 years, has not been evacuated because she lives on a higher level than the damaged dam.

"I do worry about what will happen if the dam breaks," she said.

"The thing we're mostly worried about is our community getting decimated by the amount of water behind that wall," she added.

"At the minute, we have no idea when everything will be back to normal."

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

A small number of properties in Furness Vale and New Mills - which are in the flood risk area outside Whaley Bridge - have been evacuated, say police.

A Derbyshire Police spokesman added: "All residents in the area of Whaley Bridge that is at highest risk of flooding, should the reservoir give way, have been contacted by officers and asked to leave their properties."

Image source, PA Media

Sonia Kataria
BBC News

This news agency photo shows emergency services from across the East Midlands arriving to help.

Image source, PA Media

Here, you can see police officers speaking to residents of Whaley Bridge. People were evacuated to nearby Chapel-en-le-Frith High School.

Image source, PA Media

Many roads in the area are closed, including Whaley Lane - a main route into the town.

Image source, PA Media

Sonia Kataria
BBC News

Here are some images of the day's events so far.

This aerial picture shows the damage to Toddbrook Reservoir's dam wall after heavy rainfall.

Image source, Derbyshire Police

Here you can see a team examining the damage.

Image source, PA Media

Workers could also be seen laying sandbags on top of the reservoir wall.

Image source, PA Media

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

Derbyshire Police have released a list of all roads currently closed.

Image source, Derbyshire Police

David Pittam
BBC News Online

• Damage appeared in the wall of the dam this morning following heavy rain.
• The town's 6,500 people were told to evacuate in the afternoon, along with their pets. Many of them are now staying in a school in neighbouring Chapel-en-le-Frith.
• The reservoir holds 300 million gallons of water.
• In the event of a "catastrophic failure", water would flood into the town which lies beneath the reservoir.
• Engineers and emergency services are working through the night to lower the water level and shore up the damaged dam.
• More heavy rain is predicted, but even if the rain stops, the reservoir could still continue filling as it is also fed by streams.What we don't know for sure is what caused the damage, and when it will be fixed so people can return home.

BBC Radio Manchester

Image source, Google

Rick Ellison grew up in Whaley Bridge and said it was "upsetting" to hear news of the damaged dam.

Mr Ellison, who is the landlord of the Old Hall Hotel in nearby Hope, has offered shelter for any evacuees without a place to stay.

"We've got three rooms here doing nothing, so anyone that's stuck - by all means get in touch," he told BBC Radio Manchester, external.

Liam Barnes
BBC News

Parish councillor and local resident Charles Lawley has popped into his old school with supplies for Whaley Bridge residents.

The former Chapel-en-le-Frith High School pupil said: "I work for a humanitarian aid charity, so I’ve done this in Syria.

"There’s been so much generosity from the local community."

BBC Radio Manchester

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Lee Rawlinson, area director of the Environment Agency said: “More heavy rain is coming and we are expecting heavy rain into the night.

"Our engineers are working through the night. Their health and safety is paramount.

"We’ve got mountain rescue with them too so all the right people are in the right place.

Image source, Reuters

“The Canal and River Trust is trying to pump down the water levels to allow the engineers better access to the wall. If there was to be a catastrophic failure, all that water in the reservoir could come out very quickly.

“I think the last inspection was 2018. The conditions were okay.

"We don’t know the causes of this yet – we will wait and see what the investigation says.”

Judith Moritz
BBC North of England Correspondent

Chapel-en-le-Frith High School is full tonight - the car park is full of emergency service vehicles who are using it as a command centre.

Inside, sheltering from the rain, which is hammering it down again, are some of the residents from Whaley Bridge.

There are beds available for them should they choose to stay here.

When I spoke to residents as they turned up, the overwhelming feeling was relief that they got out, as there was an overwhelming feeling of panic about this.

By 14:00 they were being told get out and I spoke to one lady who said she’d not even had time to pack a bag.

She just made sure she got the dog out, got her husband and made her way to the school.

This is the moment workers on the Toddbrook Reservoir dam appeared to run for safety earlier.

It happened around 18:00 and was captured by the BBC news helicopter.

It's not clear what happened to make them flee the dam, where they've been laying sandbags and trying to prevent it from bursting and flooding Whaley Bridge below.

BBC Radio Manchester

This evening BBC Radio Manchester spoke to Lee Rawlinson, the area director of the Environment Agency, who said any failure of the dam would be "catastrophic".

Mr Rawlinson said: "We as an environment agency are deeply concerned and we need to make sure that the reservoir is safe so we’ve issued a severe flood warning because if there was a catastrophic failure it would have devastating impacts to the River Goyt and the communities around it.

"There are quite a lot of dams around this area of the county and these dams are regularly inspected but with the amount of rainfall we’ve had some of these issues can arise."

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

In these images from the Press Association, you can see a small tipper truck being used to transport sandbags, which are being stacked on top of the dam.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

BBC News

The chief of the Canal and River Trust says that there is a risk the dam could break and that teams will be working overnight to avoid such a crisis.

Chief Operating Officer Julie Sharman said: "The spillway for the dam has broken away. We are trying to lower the level of the water in the dam in order to reduce the risk of further erosion. There’s a risk the dam could break.

Image source, Reuters

"The engineers are there giving advice and we are working with the emergency services. The sandbags are there to try to protect the spillway to avoid further erosion. We are trying to divert flows of incoming streams into the reservoir. The pumps are being installed to reduce the flow.

"There’s a severe weather warning this evening so we are working flat out to avoid any crisis.

"Clearly the concrete apron has cracked and failed and that will only get worse if water continues to run over it. It’s too early to say how long people will have to stay away but we could be on site for days."

Sonia Kataria
BBC News

Chris Waring
BBC News

Sonia Kataria
BBC News

Matt Mullen, who lives nearby in New Mills, said there are lots of roads closed in the town.

Image source, Matt Mullen

The River Goyt, which sits below the dam and Toddbrook Reservoir in Whaley Bridge, also runs through New Mills.

Image source, Matt Mullen

The Environment Agency has issued a severe flood warning, external for the river.

Andy Gill
Reporter, BBC North West Tonight