Today the North West was hit by a particularly severe storm, with worsening conditions and extreme winds as the afternoon progressed.

As a result our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE was in liaison with Greater Manchester Police and the NWAS (Greater Manchester Area) Parkway EOC throughout the late afternoon.

Shortly after 18.00hrs NWAS (Greater Manchester Area) Parkway EOC contacted our Team Leader directly, requesting the immediate mobilisation of the team to go to full standby status at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ.

A full team pager call out was made at 18.21hrs, ultimately resulting in thirty three Team Call Out list members assembling at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ.

All six of our team vehicles were crewed and NWAS (Greater Manchester Area) Parkway EOC and NWAS (Lancashire) Broughton EOC were informed of the teams readiness state.

NWAS requested that the team be ready for any rescue situation requiring our services, which thankfully did not materialise, and with the very disruptive and high winds subsiding as the early evening passed, by circa 20.45hrs NWAS stood down the team as no longer being required.