UK flood alerts: More than 300 alerts across the country as streets 'turn to rivers' in Leeds

Police have run out of 'road closed' signs in some areas

Severe flooding in parts of northern England has "turned streets to rivers" as the Met Office issued more than 300 flood alerts and multiple "danger to life" warnings in the affected areas.

People in Lancashire and West Yorkshire have been evacuated form their homes as almost the entire average rainfall for December fell in just a 24-hour period on Boxing Day.

Roads in central Leeds were also underwater after the River Aire burst its banks, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

And while the River Aire in Leeds is usually 0.9 metres, it rose to more than three times that height at 2.95 metres in the early hours of Sunday morning and was expected to rise further.

Kirkstall Road in the city was submerged under fast-flowing water, while parts of the centre remain under a red warning - the highest alert - from the Environment Agency.

Live flood warnings as issued by the government's Environmental Agency (Gov.uk)

Police also said they had run out of "road closed signs" in some of the worst affected areas, which include the evacuated areas of Mytholmroyd in west Yorkshire and Ribchester and Whalley in Lancashire.

North Yorkshire Police tweeted: "Several calls from people that have driven into floodwater, we have run out of road closed signs, don't enter floodwater, avoid flooded roads."

The force added it had received reports of flood warning signs being removed or ignored.

Other developments include:

• British Red Cross volunteers are staffing rest centres in Salford and Bury, and over 50 people, mostly elderly residents, spent the night in the Bury shelter.
• In North Wales, Red Cross volunteers are using 4x4s to transport doctors and nurses to Bangor Hospital following flooding of the A55 and surrounding roads. 
• Soldiers were deployed in York on Sunday morning to help with sandbagging and were also sent to Cawood, North Yorkshire, to help with evacuations.

In Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, the River Calder burst its banks (Getty)

Kellie Hughes, a hairdresser from Whalley, told the BBC that flooding was much worse than two weeks ago.

"It's just horrific, really bad," she said. "I've got the sandbags down here and just doing the best I possibly can."

The Met Office has since issued 24 severe flood warnings - indicating danger to life - across north east England, with six in the north west.

David Cameron is expected to chair a conference call on the Cobra committee - the government's emergency response - on Sunday.

Environment Secretary Liz Truss told BBC Breakfast that levels of rain have been "unprecedented" and said flood defences will be reviewed.

"We've been preparing with a series of Cobras through the Christmas period, so we've got the Army out working round the clock, as well as the Environment Agency, local authorities, to make sure that we protect lives.

Flooding in Hebden Bridge (Steve Morgan)

"And today the Prime Minister will be chairing a Cobra to continue that work to make sure that we've got all the resources on the ground that are needed to support families in these truly very, very difficult times," she said.