Storm causes travel chaos, house fire and floods

Flash flooding and lightning strikes have caused severe disruption across Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

Torrential rain at Manchester Piccadilly created significant delays for rail passengers on Monday evening while roads were flooded in Salford and Manchester Airport saw planes diverted.

Manchester City's victory parade was also delayed due to the intense storm.

Meanwhile in Lancashire, there was a house fire in Lytham St Annes following a lightning strike.

The blaze started in the roof after a direct hit, Lancashire Fire and Rescue said.

Four engines were called to the property in Whitewood Close. Nobody was injured.

Supermarket CostCo in Trafford Park was flooded when the torrential rain leaked through the ceiling.

Beekeeper Gareth Trehearn said it looked like a "water park" inside the store at 18:30 BST.

He and his wife knew a big storm was coming because their "bees got angry".

"Seconds after we head into the store, the heavens opened," Mr Trehearn said. "A small trickle fell from the ceiling which then quickly developed into a cascade."

Drivers in the Eccles area of Salford got stuck as their cars became submerged during flash flooding.

Fire crews were called to Andover Street after a tree fell on top of a block of flats.

At Manchester Airport, three outbound flights were cancelled due to the severe weather, while four more were diverted to other airports.

Two of the flights went instead to Newcastle, one to Liverpool and one to Leeds-Bradford.

In central Manchester, thousands of City fans battled the bad weather to celebrate their team's historic Treble with an open-top bus parade and stage show.

The parade was delayed by 30 minutes due to the storm.

Former City goalkeeper Shay Given told BBC Radio 5 Live he had experienced "rain, hailstones and wind - four seasons in one hour".

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