Council hit by £750,000 storm bill

The clean-up operation in north Wales has been costly

A north Wales council is facing a bill for £750,000 to repair roads and bridges damaged during a freak storm.

Gwynedd County Council said the storm of 3 July had caused extensive damage in several areas.

The council has finished assessing repair work in the Llanuwchllyn, Parc and Trawsfynydd and Llanelltyd areas from a cloudburst during a storm.

The floods brought misery for many

The storm was described as the worst in living memory.

It is expected the council will apply for aid to cover the cost of the repairs from the Welsh Assembly.

On the night of 3 July, pensioners had to be evacuated after water poured into their homes in Llandudno.

There was widespread damage to roads and property around Colwyn Bay and the Conwy Valley.

At a caravan park in the village of Llanuwchllyn near Bala in north Wales, seven caravans were washed away by the torrential rains.

Areas hit particularly hard included the south east, south west and Cardiff and Western Power Distribution is warning there could be more problems caused by electrical storms later. In addition, hundreds of thousand pounds worth of damage was also caused to local farmers' property which was not covered by insurance.

This includes miles of fencing, stone walls and privately-owned bridges.

Fire crews were called to pump out homes

Local MP Elfyn Llwyd and Meirionnydd AM Lord Elis-Thomas have been speaking to farmers to gather details of the extent of the damage to raise it with assembly officials.

An assembly spokesman said that any application for aid from the council in Gwynedd would be considered once it is received.

The spokesman also said that any financial aid for farmers would be state aid and would have to be given the go-ahead from the European Commission.

On 3 July, emergency services fought to restore power supplies to 50,000 homes in south Wales.

The freak storms were in sharp contrast to temperatures of 29c in parts of England.