THREE women were rescued when their car became submerged in water in Clitheroe.

As East Lancashire was battered by gales and rain overnight a section of the M65 was also closed because of flooding.

And firefighters from Blackburn were sent to Ribchester to assist the Army and Environment Agency in building flood defences along the River Ribble.

Firefighters from Clitheroe, Nelson and Penwortham fire stations were called out to Sawley Road in Clitheroe, close to the A59, to rescue the women at 1.25am.

Firefighters said the car was stuck in flood water up to the door handles and crews used life jackets and chimney rods to rescue the women.

A spokesman for Clitheroe Fire Station tweeted: "We have just rescued three females from a car caught in flood water. Do not attempt to drive through high water. #floodaware."

Lancashire Telegraph:

This afternoon, at 12.26pm, firefighters had to push a car to safety from flood water after the driver was forced to dial 999.

The incident happened on an unadopted road near to Sawley Road, Grindleton.

A Clitheroe fire crew pushed the vehicle to safety with the driver at the wheel.

He was free within around 15 minutes of the crews’ arrival.

Lancashire Police issued warnings to motorists driving along Accrington Road, Burnley; Clitheroe Road, Clitheroe; the A59 at Sawley Brow; Barnoldswick Road, Nelson and Blackburn Road, Accrington because of surface water.

A metal shed was blown on to the road in Hayfields, Barnoldswick because of high winds at 7.58am this morning. Nobody was injured.

An Environment Agency spokesman said an amber 'be prepared' warning for Lancashire would remain in place until 10pm tonight.

The Environment Agency tweeted about the action taken in Ribchester, which has a history of flooding.

It said: "#Teamea, @LancashireFRS & the Army have installed #flood barriers in #Ribchester to help protect against #flooding."

Earlier, Electricity North West said it had placed extra engineers on standby to cope with calls related to bad weather.

A Met Office spokesman said: "The highest impacts are expected across parts of the west and southwest of Cumbria, east Lancashire and the southwestern Pennines."

They predict that between 50-100mm of rain will fall in many areas. However across parts of the west and the southwest of Cumbria, parts of Lancashire and the southwestern Pennines as much as 200 to 250mm may fall across some of the most exposed high ground.

Stephanie Trubshaw, head of customer experience at Electricity North West, said: “We are closely monitoring the weather and we’ve taken extra measures to get ready in case the heavy rain forecast to hit our region over the weekend affects power supplies.

“We work hard to protect our substations and equipment from extreme events like flooding and, while we’ve invested £7.9m in boosting flood defences at 31 key sites over the past few years, we’re not complacent and are making additional preparations.”

Electricity North West’s partners, the British Red Cross, are also on standby to offer extra support to vulnerable customers.

Vulnerable customers, including some older or disabled people, or those with a medical dependency on electricity, can also sign up to the Priority Services Register by visiting www.enwl.co.uk/priority or contacting Electricity North West on 0800 195 4141.

To report a power cut or damage to the power network call Electricity North West on 0800 195 4141, follow @ElectricityNW or visit www.electricitynorthwest.co.uk.

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