More wind on the way: Wales’ weather warnings extended to Monday

The Met Office’s weather warning for Wales has now been extended to Monday, with “another spell of very strong winds expected”.

The yellow weather warning follows amber and red weather warnings for Wales which are in place today as storm Eunice caused 40,000 to lose power, schools to close, trains to be cancelled and trees to be felled across the country.

The yellow weather warning on Saturday will be in place for the south of Wales, while the warnings on Sunday and Monday apply only to the north.

For the north of Wales on Sunday and Monday the Met Office said that “winds could gust to 50 to 60 mph inland, and between 70 and 80 mph for a time on the mountains and exposed coasts, with large waves expected as well”.

“The strong winds will be accompanied by heavy, frequent and increasingly wintry showers with blizzard conditions expected in the mountains, before conditions ease later on Monday,” they added.

They warned that:

• There is a slight chance of some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs
• There is a small chance that injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties
• There is a small chance of longer journey times or cancellations as road, rail, air and ferry services are affected

For the south of Wales tomorrow the warning relates mainly to the damage done by storm Eunice today.

“Further strong winds are expected in some southern areas of the UK, which could hamper recovery efforts from storm Eunice,” they said.

• There is a small chance that some roads and bridges could close
• There is a small chance of longer journey times or cancellations as road, rail, air and ferry services are affected
• Infrastructure recovery works resulting from storm Eunice could also be hampered, i.e. power cuts may be prolonged.

Damage

A red weather warning for the south-east of Wales has now been lifted but an Amber weather warning is still in place until 9pm tonight.

The Met Office warn that Storm Eunice may yet “cause significant disruption due to extremely strong winds”.

They warn that:

• There is a good chance that flying debris could result in a danger to life
• Damage to buildings and homes is likely, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down
• Roads, bridges and railway lines are likely to close, with delays and cancellations to bus, train, ferry services and flights
• There is a good chance that power cuts, possibly prolonged, could occur, perhaps affecting other services, such as mobile phone coverage
• Large waves are likely and beach material is likely to be thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties, and flooding of some coastal properties seems likely.
• It is likely there will be falling branches and some uprooted trees

About 40,000 homes in Wales have lost power so far, and both the Severn Bridges into south Wales have been shut. Trees have been felled around the country and rooves blown off buildings.

Two lorries were blown over on the M4 westbound between junctions 37 at Pyle and 38 at Groes, with the motorway closed in both directions.

More than 100 flood warnings have also been issued by Natural Resources Wales.