A rest centre has been set up to help vulnerable villagers affected by the devastating flooding in Laxey.

A major incident was declared in Laxey village after the river broke its banks.

People were trapped in their homes and vehicles were washed away.

A rest centre has been set in the church hall behind the village Coo-op by the Civil Defence.

Its volunteers are working with Community health teams to ensure vulnerable people are identified and offered the help they need.

A paramedic from Noble’s Hospital has been based in the rest centre alongside volunteers from St John Ambulance.

Contingency arrangements are being made to support and staff the rest centre as the incident continues, in conjunction with Civil Defence.

Alternate accommodation is being found for those who need it, while fire crews pump out flooded homes.

Emergency services, Infrastructure teams and utility engineers have provided a front-line response to the torrential rainfall overnight and this morning.

Police co-ordinated a response by emergency services and Coastguard partners to ensure the safety of all residents in lower Laxey, some of whom are elderly.

With no safe access to the village by sea or road for a time, a UK Coastguard helicopter was sent to the scene and remained on stand-by for several hours.The river wall had been breached in a number of places, causing the Glen Road to flood.

Flooding has caused disruption on roads around the island.

DoI teams have been deployed to clear debris from roads to keep major routes passable.

This work included an operation to clear a small landslide on the Mountain Road.The Laxey to Ramsey coast road has now reopened, having been shut due to debris and concerns about a collapsed culvert in the Dhoon area.

Flooding led to the closure of Dhoon and Laxey schools.

The situation continues to be monitored and a decision on whether the schools will open tomorrow will be made in due course.

There is no parking along Douglas Promenade walkway due to the conditions, and residents and business owners on Peel road have been urged to deploy flood defences.

Manx Utilities has been on-scene at Laxey and elsewhere, and turned off electricity supplies in areas where safety dictated.

The Social Security office in Ramsey has been closed and clients asked to call 685126 with queries that cannot wait.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle is receiving regular updates on the disruption caused by the weather while on a planned visit to the Conservative party conference in Manchester.

He will return earlier than planned first thing tomorrow (Wednesday) and plans to visit Laxey to survey the scene and speak to local residents and those caring for them.

Mr Quayle has thanked emergency services for their efforts and sent his thoughts to all those affected.

An Amber alert for heavy rain from the Met Office remains in place until 4pm today.