Gwydir Castle suffers serious flooding as heavy rainfall causes incidents across Wales

WS200121 GWYDIR CASTLE FLOODING
Heavy rainfall has caused flooding across Wales with rising river levels, road closures and disruption to rail services Credit: Gwydir Castle

Conwy Valley's Gwydir Castle, the historic Welsh house and garden, has been hit by serious flooding again as Storm Christoph brought heavy rainfall to the area.

All roads to the historic house have been closed, with the site's management saying there was as an "enormous pressure of water" behind a recently-built flood defence wall.

Gwydir Castle has experienced flooding for decades, with gardens and castle cellars regularly being submerged in water up to six feet deep.

Judy Corbett, the owner of Gwydir Castle, told ITV News the situation was "pretty dire" and that water levels were rising "minute-by-minute".

She said, "Things are pretty dire for us up here in Llanrwst and at the moment we're just monitoring the levels.

"They're rising minute-by-minute at the moment and I've just looked at the forecast and it seems that there's going to be more rain due now for another 12 hours, I think until about 11 or 12 o'clock tonight so we are really, really worried and very anxious about what the next few hours will hold for us here.

"At the moment it is sandbags and hope, it really is.

"We have spent the last two years building it [flood defence wall], the wall is six foot high and three-foot deep and it runs over half a mile, so it is a herculean effort and task that we've done again with the help of our volunteers.

"But there are technical problems, the water is coming under the wall in places."

Heavy rainfall has caused serious flooding with visibly high water levels Credit: Gwydir Castle

There are currently 36 flood warnings in place across Wales with Storm Cristoph bringing more heavy rain overnight and into Thursday morning.

More than 120mm of rain has already fallen in parts of the country, with 123.42mm at Capel Curig in North Wales in the 24 hours up to 2pm on Wednesday.

Crai Reservoir in South Wales saw the second highest total rainfall - 115.6mm - and areas in Glamorgan also topped 100mm over the same period.

Several road closures are in place due to flooding across North Wales.

Councils across the country have had to take measures to try and minimise the damage and risks to the public.

Cllr Andrew Morgan, leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, said additional staff were being deployed and that the council was also monitoring a potential landslip in Pentre.

The River Severn pictured on Tuesday beginning to overflow Credit: PA Images

He said: "The Council has undertaken a number of proactive steps to prepare for the inclement weather by deploying additional staff and plant resources to respond to any emergencies that arise through this ongoing weather event, which we understand from the forecasting models will continue into tomorrow.

"Through the course of today, the Council has taken further proactive action in some vulnerable locations, which have been identified based on both an assessment of risk and the latest weather information, and this includes continuing the physical presence at key locations.

"The Council is also in the process of attending a potential landslip in Pentre, at a location in the ownership of Natural Resources Wales, to assess the situation and provide reassurance to residents.

"We urge residents to remain alert and to continue to take extra care at this time. Where possible and safe to do so, residents and businesses are also being asked to themselves help alleviate the risk of flooding in local areas."

Flintshire County Council announced seven road closures caused by flooding and said work was ongoing to remove surface water and reopen them as soon as possible.

Conwy County Borough Council said it had dispatched teams to monitor water levels and clear away debris.

Rail services have also been affected with flooding causing landslips in places. Transport for Wales said in a social media post that several lines has had been forced to close.

South Wales was also affected by high river levels, with flowing water significantly higher at Cardiff's River Taff.


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