Eisteddfod works to fight weather

Work to prepare the Eisteddfod site is currently under way

The National Eisteddfod's organiser has said "everything possible" was being done to stop this year's festival being ruined by bad weather.

After weeks of heavy rain, Hywel Wyn Edwards said the thought of a washout at the site in Mold, Flintshire next week "made him downhearted".

But he added: "It has to stop raining some time. I would urge people to come and support the National Eisteddfod."

Turnout dropped for the rain-hit Royal Welsh Show, which closed on Thursday.

The Royal Welsh at Llanelwedd, Powys, ended with an attendance on its final day of 41,746 people - the lowest figure for a Thursday since 2000.

I live in Mold, so I thought this eisteddfod out of all of them would be amazing Hywel Wyn Edwards, National Eisteddfod

Although the total attendance over the four days fell from last year's 240,140, officials said this year's attendance was typical of the figure since 1999, when it first hit 200,000.

The show suffered heavy rain and was also dogged by traffic problems, with many visitors caught in 10-mile tailbacks on Tuesday.

But Mr Edwards said he was trying to remain positive ahead of the National Eisteddfod, which starts on Saturday, 4 August.

He added: "I live in Mold, so I thought this eisteddfod out of all of them would be amazing.

"The weather does worry me. It gives me a thump in my stomach. It's made me a little down-hearted but at the end of the day we have to look forward and be positive."

He said 3,800 tonnes of quarry stones had been put down at the site. "That's a heck of a lot of stone," he said.

In addition, more than 2,500 tonnes of tarmac planings have been put down, as well as organisers spending £25,000 more than previous years on extra metal trackways.

Mr Edwards said: "The weather is looking pretty good into next week.

"The site is very fast-draining, a couple of days of fine weather and it's surprising how hard the grass areas go."