Wales weather: Flood risk as heavy rain hits

Wales has been warned to expect heavy rain from the early hours of Wednesday

A flood warning and a series of alerts have been issued as heavy rain sweeps into Wales.

Areas, including Swansea and Carmarthenshire, could experience high levels of surface water, while in north Wales, the A499 near Pwllheli in Gwynedd was closed earlier.

It comes after the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning advising that Wales could face floods on Wednesday.

It said heavy rain is expected until 15:00 GMT it could cause disruption.

A number of areas in Wales are set to be affected, the weather forecasters said.

Natural Resources Wales listed more than a dozen amber "be prepared" alerts over Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning (28 December).

• Wales warned that heavy rain could cause flooding

• Roads and homes flooded as heavy rain hits Wales

A flood warning was also issued at about 15:30 for the River Towy, isolated properties between Llandeilo and Abergwili in Carmarthenshire, with river levels expected to rise until 17:00.

Flooding between Pwllheli and Penrhos on the Llyn Peninsula forced the A499 in Gwynedd to be closed for part of Wednesday morning, but has now reopened. An earlier flood warning for the area has also been lifted.

The A499 near Pwllheli was closed by flooding on Wednesday morning

Some flooding of businesses and homes was likely, the Met Office warned, and buses and trains are likely to be delayed and there could be power cuts.

Spray and flooding on roads could also make journey times longer.

The M48 Severn Bridge remains closed in both directions between J1 and J2 due to high winds.

Parts of south-west England could also be hit by the poor weather.

A Met Office spokesman said: "A band of rain will move north-eastwards across the area during Wednesday."

Rain would become "heavy and persistent" especially over high ground in south Wales and Dartmoor.

A few places could get 40 to 60mm (1.5 to 2.3in) of rain in nine to 12 hours, before clearing in the afternoon.