Wales battered by storms

Storm force winds could follow

Torrential rain and high winds have caused havoc across Wales with whole villages cut off by rising flood waters.

The emergency services said they were stretched to the limit as a deep Atlantic depression swept across western Britain.

Many major roads were closed overnight and rail services face further disruption due to landslides and storm debris.

Abergavenny in Monmouthshire and parts of Flintshire and Pembrokeshire were among the worst hit areas.

Severe flood warnings have been issued by the Environment Agency for two sections of the River Monnow in Monmouthshire.

Flood warnings have been issued for many other rivers in Wales, including the lower River Dee, the Severn and Vyrnwy in north Powys and the rivers Alyn, Bran, Cothi, Solva, Cleddau, Tywi, Wye and Rhymney

The National Weather Centre in Cardiff said heavy rain and strong winds were expected to continue in north Wales for much of Friday, with gusts of up to 65mph.

Transport disrupted

Much of west Wales was practically cut off by floods overnight.

At one point, 15 trunk roads in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire were closed by flooding - but Dyfed Powys Police later said that all A-roads were passable with care

Firefighters rescued a woman and her three children who were trapped in a car in deep floodwater at Penny Bridge in Pembroke late on Thursday evening.

By dawn, the emergency services were dealing with serious flooding in Cross Hands, where homes, shops, a school and a community centre were being pumped out.

The main Newport to Hereford railway line was closed at Pontrilas near Abergavenny after flood water washed away ballast from the track.

In north Wales, the A541 was closed at Pontblyddyn near Mold for the third time in six weeks.

Firefighters received dozens of calls from residents of the Firs Estate in Mold who were worried their homes would be inundated with water.

Web page "swamped"

A website showing people whether their homes were at risk of flooding has been swamped.

The Environment Agency's new site, which uses postcodes to identify specific areas, had 200,000 page impressions within the first 10 hours of its launch at midnight on Thursday.

The figure is the equivalent of an average month's traffic to the site.

Gale force winds of more than 80mph are expected in some areas "with some structural damage possible", the Met Office said.

Rivers have burst their banks

The west of Scotland and Northern Ireland are also likely to be hit by severe gales, heavy rain and flooding as a "vigorous depression" moves northwards.

"Some parts of western Britain will get around two-and-a-half inches of rain, which will cause problems for any rivers already on alert," a Met Office spokesman said.

Forecasters have advised people in the worst-affected areas to be vigilant.

"People should be tying things down which could easily work loose in strong winds - if you can, stay indoors," said a Met Office spokesman.