Cardiff homeless sleep-out hit by 'horrendous' weather

Parts of the stage were damaged by the wind

A sleep-out to raise awareness of homelessness was hit by heavy wind and rain, leading to a hypothermia risk, organisers have said.

Frances Beecher of charity Llamau said the stage at Cardiff Castle was blowing over and part of the site flooded in the early hours.

She added eight people had been treated by paramedics.

"I think that happening really brings home how difficult it is even for one night on the streets," she said.

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Liss Murphy, 22, Kira Griffiths, 20, and Stacey Proctor, 28, prepared for a cold night

"We had to move people out of the way and eventually end the event early. It was due to finish at 06:00 anyway, so people did still complete the challenge," she said.

Volunteers raised more than £89,000 by taking part in the sleep-out and were joined by celebrities such as Ruth Jones, Charlotte Church and Richard Parks.

Several events were held around the world, with more than 50,000 people predicted to take part in cities including London, Edinburgh, New York, Brisbane and Dublin.

The initiative aimed to raise about £38m ($50m) for homelessness charities.

All smiles... but the weather took a turn for the worse