Parts of the UK are flooded by heavy rain as wild weather continues to disrupt New Year's events

LONDON (AP) — Parts of the United Kingdom were flooded Wednesday as heavy rains and powerful winds continued to disrupt New Year’s celebrations.

Several communities in the Manchester area were flooded, with several homes evacuated and cars submerged up to their roofs on roads and in parking lots after nearly a month's worth of rain fell in two days.

A major incident was declared and mountain rescue teams were called in to help firefighters respond to swamped properties and stranded vehicles, Greater Manchester Police said.

“There’s still probably likely to be further flooding across the course of the day," Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said. “We are potentially expecting the flood situation to get worse before it gets better.”

Tom Coulthard said the rain started late Tuesday afternoon and poured all night where he lives in Didsbury, south of Manchester, topping river banks and forcing a hotel to be evacuated before dawn. Roads and highways were closed in the area.

“All the local rivers and water courses have sort of filled up and flooded around the area," said Coulthard, a geography professor at the University of Hull. “That’s really probably a sign of just how our weather is changing, how climate is shifting."

The deluge and gusts derailed New Year's Eve fireworks celebrations, leading to cancellations in Edinburgh and several other cities. Events planned for New Year's Day, including nippy outdoor swims and a bathtub boat race, were scrapped.

London, which was able to launch its massive fireworks display on the River Thames in front of Big Ben, had to postpone the start of its New Year’s Day parade and grounded inflatable floats due to the blustery and soggy conditions.

Cheerleaders and members of bands that marched through central London pulled transparent coverings over their bright costumes to take shelter from rain.

Warnings that indicate flooding is expected were issued at one point to more than 150 communities across the U.K., with most being in northern England. Later in the day, dozens of those warnings had been lifted.

Several trains were canceled because of high water around the tracks and some highways were closed.

With temperatures dropping, there were ice warnings until late Thursday morning for Northern Ireland, parts of North Wales, England and Scotland. And a three-day snow warning was issued for the coming weekend for much of England and Scotland.

A ferry heads out to sea as weather warnings are enforced across parts of the UK, in Dover, England, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

Rain falls as performers take part in the New Year's Day Parade in central London, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Marching band members from Western Kentucky University walk in the rain during the New Year's Day Parade in central London, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Rain falls as performers prepare to take part in the New Year's Day Parade in central London, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Rain falls as performers prepare to take part in the New Year's Day Parade in central London, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

A performer walks in the rain during the New Year's Day Parade in central London, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty marking the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain on Saturday.

They included just a small proportion of hundreds of political detainees jailed for opposing army rule since the military seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. That takeover was met with massive nonviolent resistance, which has since become a widespread armed struggle.

State-run MRTV television reported that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, granted amnesties covering 5,864 prisoners from Myanmar, as well as 180 foreigners who will be deported. Mass prisoner releases are common on holidays and other significant occasions in Myanmar.

The terms of release warn that if the freed detainees violate the law again, they will have to serve the remainder of their original sentences in addition to any new sentence.

In a separate report, it said Min Aung Hlaing had commuted the life sentences of 144 prisoners to 15 years' imprisonment. The report provided no details about them.

The report also said that all other prisoners will have their sentences reduced by one sixth, except those convicted under the Explosive Substances Act, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Arms Act and the Counterterrorism Law, all laws which are often used against opponents of military rule.

Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for the military government, said in an audio note to journalists that those being released included about 600 prisoners who were prosecuted under Section 505(A) of Myanmar’s penal code, which makes it a crime to spread comments that create public unrest or fear or spread false news.

He said Khet Aung, a former chief minister of the southern Kachin state, was among those freed. Khet Aung was arrested soon after the army takeover and was sentenced in April 2022 to 12 years in prison on corruption charges.

Zaw Min Tun also said most of the freed foreigners are Thais who were arrested for gambling in the border town of Tachileik in eastern Myanmar. He said Indonesians who were arrested for fishing in Myanmar’s territorial waters were also among those freed.

He did not mention whether four Thai fishermen, who were arrested by Myanmar’s navy in late November after patrol boats opened fire on Thai fishing vessels in waters close to their maritime border in the Andaman Sea, were among the released. Thailand’s prime minister had said she expects the four to be released on Independence Day.

Prisoner releases began on Saturday but can take a few days to be completed. In the country’s largest city, Yangon, buses took prisoners out of Insein Prison, where friends and families of detainees had waited since morning for the announced releases, at around 11:30 a.m.

There was no sign that the prisoner release would include Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held virtually incommunicado by the military since its seizure of power.

The 79-year-old Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence after being convicted in a series of politically tinged prosecutions brought by the military.

Her supporters and independent analysts say the cases against her are an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power while keeping her from taking part in the military’s promised election, for which no date has yet been set.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights monitoring organization, 28,096 people have been arrested on political charges since the army takeover.

Of those arrested, 21,499 were still in detention as of Friday, the AAPP reported. At least 6,106 civilians have been killed by security forces in the same period, the group says. Its tally does not include all casualties from combat.

Myanmar became a British colony in the late 19th century and regained its independence on Jan. 4, 1948.

In the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s military government celebrated the anniversary with a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall.

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners are welcomed by family members and colleagues outside Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4 , 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain.(AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners are welcomed by family members and colleagues outside Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Family members wait to welcome released prisoners from Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, front center and right, are welcomed by family members and colleagues outside Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)