Storm Franklin: Wales sees near-80mph gusts and more disruption

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Media caption,

Homes, roads and rail hit by storm floods in Wales

More weather disruption has hit Wales, with further warnings in place and flood alerts likely to increase.

The Met Office said gusts reached 79mph (127km/h) in Capel Curig, Conwy, and 75mph (120kmh) in Aberdaron, Gwynedd, but a weather warning has been lifted.

Thousands of homes were without power after damage from Friday's Storm Eunice and others were flooded when some Welsh rivers reached record levels.

The fire service had to rescue people from homes and 50 from a bus in Powys.

Swansea City's home Championship game against Bournemouth on Tuesday has been postponed after storm damage at their ground.

County councillor Karl Lewis said one person was taken to hospital as a precaution after flooding left Llandinam looking like a "disaster zone".

Mr Lewis said seven people were rescued by boat when five properties in the village were flooded with up to 2ft (0.6m) of water, after heavy rain and strong winds caused the river banks to burst at about 16:00 on Sunday.

One man, Roger Higgs, described how he rescued his 96-year-old mother in Llandinam as the waters rose.

Media caption,

Why has mid Wales been particularly affected by storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin?

"I've lived in Llandinam all my life, 41 years, and I've never seen water like that before," he said.

"We only had a few minutes to get people out."

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it dealt with 100 flood-related calls in 24 hours over the weekend, including using a boat and sled to help 50 passengers and a driver from a coach after it became stuck in water in Welshpool on Sunday night.

Image caption,

Roger Higgs's 96-year-old mother's home was flooded

Image source, Carl Lewis
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Heavy rain led to the flooding of a football pitch in Caersws

Nicola Brant from Caersws lives on a flood plain and tweeted a video of what was usually "a little babbling brook" becoming a full-flowing river.

"It's dangerous and scary… it's getting more common.

"We only have to have heavy rain now, which can be in the middle of the summer, and it floods. It's definitely got worse over the last two or three years."

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In Little Haven, Pembrokeshire, high winds blew the roof off a caravan used as an office for Greenacres Animal Rescue and one of their stables.

Mikey Lawlor, manager of Greenacres Animal Rescue, said: "It became quite dangerous quite quickly.

"We live on the coast, wind is something that we're used to… we've been here for 14 years, I've never seen wind like that before. It was literally taking people off their feet."

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers / Jade
Image caption,

The river running high in Newtown, Powys, on Sunday night

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) issued a number of flood warnings,, external with the worst affected areas in mid Wales.

Some of the highest river levels on record were on parts of the Severn, Vyrnwy, Teme, Wye and Usk.

NRW said there is the potential for further flood warnings on the lower sections of the River Wye near Monmouth as the peak moved down stream.

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Western Power Distribution said on Monday that all power had been restored to customers, after 450 incidents in south Wales at the weekend.

Network services manager Sean Sullivan said it was an "extremely challenging weekend", describing it as "unprecedented" in his 36-year career.

"It's been a tough weekend for some of our customers. A small number were off for quite a significant period and I'm very sorry that they had to experience that. It's been incredibly challenging."

'Community spirit'

In Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Sarah Davies opened up the Amman RFC clubhouse to offer help to the community.

She said there were "lots of families, lots of houses without power overnight and into the next day".

"We got up in the morning and decided right let's open up the club, try to help - because we had electric, we had microwaves, we had a cooker, had heating - just to try and get a bit of community spirit going," she said.

Sport Wales, the national organisation which promotes physical activity, announced that it will give grants of £300-£5,000 to fix damage to clubhouses, pitches or equipment stored outside as a direct result of the recent storms.

Applications will be accepted until next Monday, 28 February.

SP Energy Networks said it was dealing with several power cuts across mid and north Wales.

Image source, South Wales Police
Image caption,

A fallen tree crashed into a house on Cathedral Road, Cardiff

How is travel affected?

Network Rail said it was dealing with about 100 fallen trees across Wales which has affected travel.

The M48 Severn Bridge remains closed in both directions, with reported wind speeds of 50mph. But the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge is open.

Transport for Wales operations manager Marie Daly said it was a "dynamically changing" picture on the rail lines, and it was having to constantly review its services.

She warned passengers to check before travelling, adding: "Speed restrictions will see a reduction in our timetable.

"There should be services across all of our network, if it's not by train it will be by replacement buses."

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Powys council reported road closures along the A483 at Berriew, Buttington, Llanwrtyd Wells and Dyfi Bridge, as well as on the A470 at Rhayader and Builth Wells.

Wrexham council said the River Dee was being monitored with localised flooding affecting roads at Bangor-on-Dee and Rossett.

Neath Port Talbot council said it had received 105 calls regarding fallen trees affecting several roads, including a number of trees down on High Street, Abergwynfi.

Access was affected on other routes due to structural damage in Water Street and Eagle Street in Port Talbot.