Wales weather: Power cuts as high winds wreak havoc

Fire crews deal with an unsafe chimney on City Road, Cardiff

Power has been restored to more than 1,300 homes in south, west and mid Wales as high winds wreaked havoc across the region.

Western Power Distribution said homes in Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Powys, Pembrokeshire and Neath Port Talbot suffered cuts on Tuesday night.

Fire crews responded to falling trees, road crashes and damage to buildings.

A man was taken to hospital after a tree fell onto a recovery truck in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Firefighters were called to the scene on the B4265 at St Athan at 21:22 GMT. The injured man was freed from the vehicle and taken to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.

The Severn Bridge was closed due to high winds, and the A465 Heads Of The Valleys road was closed at the Hirwaun roundabout after a number of vehicles were reported to have hit a fallen tree.

Mid and West Wales fire officers said trees were down in Tenby, Lamphey, Drefach Felindre near Newcastle Emlyn, Felinfach and Caernwern, Neath.

Western Power Distribution said the areas affected by high voltage power failures included Cardiff, Haverfordwest, Hendy, Llandarcy and Builth Wells.

The firm said that as well as working through the night, teams of engineers would also switch circuits to work around individual faults.

Meanwhile in Powys, power cables were brought down by high winds in Great Oak Street, Llanidloes.

Firefighters called in power engineers as the cables were sparking and arcing.

Roof damage

The Met Office had issued a yellow warning for gusts of up to 80mph.

A gust of 70mph (110 kmph) was recorded at Aberporth, Ceredigion, on Tuesday evening.

As well as bringing down trees, the high winds have damaged a number of buildings, with roofing sheets being blown off.

A fire crew was called to deal with large zinc sheets blown from the roof of a barn which blocked a road at St Lawrence, near Tenby.

Some of the roofing sheets landed in a tree.

Firefighters were also called to Penally, near Tenby, where more roofing had come down.

In Carmarthenshire, the A484 Bronwydd Road was closed in both directions due to a fallen tree between the A4243 and the Gwilli railway turning, and the A476 near Carmel is also closed.

Chimney

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said they were dealing with numerous reports of trees being blown down, particularly around the heads of the valleys.

Police closed the A465 for safety reasons after vehicles collided with a fallen tree at Hirwaun, according to Traffic Wales.

Diversions for light vehicles were set up via Llwydcoed village and for heavy goods vehicles via the A4059 and A470.

A tree has also come down in Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan, while a chimney has collapsed on a house in Caerphilly.

Firefighters in Cardiff were dealing with a unsafe chimney in City Road after a number of bricks fell from the roof.

Fire crews were also called to a water rescue in Blackwood, near Caerphilly, but this incident was last stood down as a false alarm.

They have also been called out to a number of road crashes.