PM has offered Monmouth floods support, says Morgan

The River Monnow burst its banks and flooded Monmouth over the weekend

The Welsh government has been offered support by the prime minister to respond to the recent flooding in Monmouth, the first minister has said.

A major clean-up operation is underway in the town after Storm Claudia caused the river Monnow to burst its banks.

Raising the issue during First Minister's Questions (FMQs) on Tuesday, the Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar called for "speedy action" to help those affected.

First Minister Eluned Morgan said her government was looking at how funding could be provided "in the least bureaucratic way" and "as soon as possible".

Plaid Cymru's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said he would be writing to Morgan "seeking assurances that the Welsh government will undertake an urgent assessment of our preparedness for extreme weather conditions this winter and beyond".

On Saturday, the River Monnow reached record levels - exceeding those recorded during Storm Dennis in 2020 and Storm Bert in 2024.

People were rescued from their homes in Monmouth after overnight floods left much of the town under water. Some were evacuated to a nearby library.

During FMQs on Tuesday afternoon, Millar said he had visited Monmouth and seen "the devastation that was wrought by Storm Claudia".

In the meantime, a Welsh government spokesperson said: "The prime minister was in touch with the first minister over the weekend to offer his support following the flooding in Monmouthshire. The FM updated the PM on the flooding response."

He asked Morgan "what immediate support the Welsh government will provide to those who have been affected as they begin the long and painful process of rebuilding their lives".

Morgan replied: "We knew this was coming, and we've been offered support by the prime minister."

"It is of course important that we stand with these communities, and that's why we have the Emergency Financial Assistance Schemes for these very scenarios.

"I know that the propositions are being built up as we speak, and local government finance officials are working to establish what support can be provided."

BBC Wales has asked the Welsh government to set out what support has been offered by Number 10.

According to the Welsh government website, the Emergency Financial Assistance Scheme is a discretionary fund which can be used "to give special financial assistance to local authorities that would otherwise be faced with an undue financial burden of providing relief and carrying out immediate work due to large scale emergencies".

It adds that "any incident for which assistance is sought must involve conditions which are exceptional by local standards and damage to the local authority infrastructure or communities must be exceptional in relation to normal experience".

The decision to use the fund must be taken by government ministers.

Millar said: "Communities here in Wales right now need your support, so can I urge you to pull that emergency funding trigger to get the help into the hands of those Welsh families and businesses affected by flooding who desperately need it?"

In response Morgan said: "We're looking at how we provide that funding in the least bureaucratic way, and making sure we can get that that funding out as soon as possible."

A major incident was declared in Monmouth after the flooding inundated properties

BBC Wales has been told that any decision to use the fund would need to be approved by the Welsh government's finance secretary, climate change secretary and its local government secretary.

Later, in his own statement on the flooding, Climate Change Secretary Huw Irranca-Davies told the Senedd that "current indications suggest that hundreds of homes and business have been flooded across the county of Monmouthshire".

He added that properties had also been flooded in Caerphilly, Cardiff, Denbighshire, Newport, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, and the Vale of Glamorgan.

The flooding comes after parts of west Wales saw similar scenes earlier in the month.

"These past few weeks have been yet another reminder of the stark reality of our changing climate and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events," Irranca-Davies said.

He told Senedd members that the parliament would have to "wrestle" with the question of spending more on flood defences in the future.

However, he also warned "we cannot defend every single inch of every single property and every piece of coastline in Wales".