A FLOOD alert has been issued for areas including Chester and Ellesmere Port.

The Environment Agency has issued two separate flood alerts for the River Dee catchment area from Whitchurch to Chester and the Mersey Estuary from Liverpool and Wirral to Widnes.

The River Dee alert says: "River levels remain high on the River Dee due to recent heavy rainfall.

"Flooding is forecast to affect locations near the River Dee, in particular, low lying land and roads at Shocklach, Farndon, Handley, Lower Kinnerton, Chester and Puddington.

"The River Dee levels are expected to rise steadily towards the weekend. It is likely that Townfield Lane at Farndon will get cut off as the river rises.

"We will continue to monitor the situation. Avoid using low lying footpaths and any bridges near local watercourses and do not attempt to walk or drive through flood water."

The Mersey estuary alert says: "Storm Eunice is forecast to bring strong winds, large waves and spray overtopping on the coast.

"Flooding is possible for the following areas, Wallasey Dock, Seacombe Promenade, Rock Park, Hale Village between 12pm and 1pm, February 18. Our incident response staff are closely monitoring weather forecasts and river levels and will issue flood warnings if necessary."

It added the flood alert area includes Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Liverpool, New Ferry, Woodside, Widnes and Hale Village.

A flood warning is also in place for the River Dee from Saltney towards the Dee Estuary, covering Deeside, Sealand and the Chester West Employment Park.

High tide is expected around 12.15pm on Friday.

People are being urged not to travel on the railways on Friday due to very strong winds forecast, with a Met Office amber warning in place.

  • Call Floodline for advice - Telephone: 0345 988 1188, Textphone: 0345 602 6340. Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
  • We will bring you all the latest from Storm Eunice tomorrow (Friday) on our live blog.