Flood warnings, storm surges and school shut downs as Storm Eunice sweeps into Wales

Both Severn Crossings into Wales have been closed as Storm Eunice brings dangerously high winds into Wales.

Its as high-sided vehicles have been reported as toppling over across the road network here.

This morning Natural Resources Wales issued flood warnings over 100 areas where properties will be at risk as the height of the storm and high tides coincide. There were more than 20 Flood Alerts in place too.

These have started to drop off as the tides retreat.

In a statement the agency warned:

“The arrival of Storm Eunice overnight on Thursday brings the potential for very stormy conditions. The combination of high tide, forecast winds and wave heights gives a risk of flooding leading up to and around the high tide at Milford Haven at 7:20am (8:57am Aberystwyth) on the morning of Friday 18th February.

“Current forecasts indicate that a storm surge associated with Storm Eunice could cause significant tide level increase. There is still much uncertainty about the extent of the possible impacts from the storm but they could be significant, we are monitoring the situation very closely. “

Wave heights of nearly 7 metres are forecast this morning at Freshwater West in Pembrokeshire.

The warnings go right around the Welsh coast ahead of the morning's high tide. Check for updates at https://flood-warning.naturalresources.wales/

The agency says immediate action is required in areas which have flood warnings.

Power cuts in Carmarthenshire

Across the Red Warning Zone in the UK, reports of power cuts are coming in thick and fast.

Homes in Carmarthenshire are out and Western Power Distribution engineers are working to deal with the issues.

Vaccination centres closed and non-essential appointments cancelled

In the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, Cardiff and the Vale and Hywel Dda areas Coronavirus vaccination centres are scheduled to close tomorrow.

A statement from the Swansea Bay University Health Board said that because of the severe red weather warning all non-urgent NHS appointments are being cancelled in the Swansea Bay area, including all non-urgent face-to-face appointments, including district nursing, GP and dental appointments. But digital consultations will continue and appointments would be re-scheduled.

School closures

Schools across South Wales have already announced they’re moving to online learning when the rare Red Warning comes into force. Kerbside waste collections and recycling services have also been hit with authorities across South and West Wales announcing they are rescheduling collections.

Kerbside recycling collections have been cancelled and rescheduled across many local authority areas.

Shops and businesses

We are all being urged to stay indoors so unless you absolutely have to go out then making do with what's in the freezer and store cupboard - at least until the storm has died down is probably a good idea!

Seafront businesses were preparing themselves for the worst of the weather this morning.

Surfside Cafe at Caswell Bay on Gower was damaged in previous storms in recent years. They were preparing to close today and putting up storm boards against the full force of the waves.

Transport

In a highly unusual move BOTH Severn crossings were closed this morning.

The M4 was closed in both directions at Junctions 41 and 42 around Baglan due to high winds until later this afternoon.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said the Bwlch, Rhigos and Maerdy mountain roads are closed.

Numerous reports of fallen trees making roads impassable are coming throughout this monring and high-sided vehicles have been blown down across the network

Trains halted

The advice remains - stay at home unless your journey is absolutely essential.

The rail network has closed in Wales

Chris Pearce from Network Rail Wales and Western said it was highly unusual to have to respond to a red weather warning:

"It is quite unusual, we haven’t closed the whole railway in Wales since the Beast from the East in 2018 and that’s when we had a significant snow and ice event affecting trains right across Wales and Borders.

“ So this situation shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

He went on to thank passengers for their patience and said safety was their number one priority:

“We’ve got some extreme weather actions teams and they’re going to be out in force for the next few days checking the railway infrastructure and clearing up debris

We’re likely to see fallen trees and we’ve got over a thousand miles of track right across th extent of Wales that we need to check before we can get passengers moving again.”

Buses cancelled

First Cymru Buses and South Wales Transport say they are suspending all bus services in the Neath Port Talbot and Swansea areas tomorrow.

A statement from South Wales Transport read:

"Following the Red Weather Warning issued by the Met Office for South Wales, risk assessment and discussions with our insurers, all services will be suspended tomorrow (Friday 18th February).

"We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause but as a company we must uphold our legal obligations to ensure our staff’s safety.

"We will issue an update about services on Saturday by 4pm on Friday via our website and Facebook/Twitter pages."

A record breaker?

We’ve yet to see the full force of Storm Eunice but the strongest wind recorded in the UK until now have been recorded on mountains, and the strongest ever gust was 150.3 knots (173 mph).

This was recorded at Cairngorm Summit on 20 March 1986. However, some very strong gusts have been recorded at low levels too , these mostly along exposed coastal areas.

These include:

123.4 knots (142 mph) on 13 February 1989 at Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire.

107.8 knots (124 mph) on 12 January 1974 at Kilkeel in County Down.

102.5 knots (118 mph) on 15 December 1979 at Gwennap Head in Cornwall.

All the latest on Storm Eunice will be in our news bulletins throughout the day.

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