Thaw she blows!

WATER spout... this picture posted on video-sharing website YouTube shows water shooting into the air following the mains burst

A BURST main sent water gushing more than 30ft in the air . . . and left homes in Saddleworth without water on Boxing Day.

Revellers in Delph had their plans scuppered as some homes lost their water supply for more than 24 hours when the water main burst in Millgate.

Residents in Stoneswood Road and Grains Road began reporting low water pressure or no water at all on Sunday morning.

As a torrent of water gushed from the pavement, homes in Delph Lane, Denshaw Road, Millgate, Sand Bed Lane, and Springwood were among those who also reported problems.

Saddleworth Parish Councillor Ken Hulme, who lives in Sevenacres, Delph, was affected.

He said: “We couldn’t have a shower, or wash the pots left over from Christmas dinner and we were anxious about the effect on our central heating.”

By lunchtime on Boxing Day, the water was back on everywhere except Millgate, Grains Road and Stoneswood Road. Residents there had to wait until the following day to get their supply restored.

A spokesman for United Utilities apologised and said: “We managed to restore supplies to most people by re-routing the water, but some people were without water into the evening.

“A repair team worked through the night in freezing conditions to rectify the situation.”

Temperatures dropped to a bone-chilling -11C on Christmas Day but reached above zero for the first time in a week on Boxing Day.

Rocketing to a balmy 5C on Monday, a borough-wide thaw saw frozen pipes burst.

Across the region, Greater Manchester Fire Service said it received 41 flood-related calls during Boxing Day night, and 82 calls in 24 hours from 8.30am on Monday.

United Utilities said it had received an exceptionally high number of calls from those without water.


A block of ice said to be the size of a car derailed a train from Manchester Airport through Rochdale early yesterday as it reached the Yorkshire side of the Summit Tunnel at Walsden. Greater Manchester firemen joined crews from West Yorkshire and Lancashire to evacuate 45 passengers and crew. No-one was hurt.


Woman found collapsed in cold
A woman who was found collapsed and unconscious on a freezing pavement was treated for hypothermia at the Royal Oldham Hospital over Christmas.

She was found in Belmont Street, near the town centre, in the early hours of Christmas Eve by a passer by.

She appeared to have come from a near-by house, possibly in Flora Street, as footprints led to where she was found. Police made house-to-house inquiries to identify her and establish how she came to being there. They believe she may be in her mid 20s.


Temperatures lowest for 100 years?
December could prove to be the coldest in 100 years.

With the mercury failing to reach above zero for the entire pre-Christmas week, readings so far are set to see the December averages reach their lowest since 1963.

Chronicle weather expert Damian Rodgers said: “It certainly has been the coldest December in a long time and could be the coldest in 100 years.”

Yet despite all the snow, this month has also been the driest December in the borough for 30 years.