Storm Eunice: Thousands without power and homes damaged in Wales

Tens of thousands of homes are still without power and houses are damaged after Storm Eunice battered Wales.

Lorries were blown over, both bridges into Wales were closed, and roofs ripped off buildings, after high winds caused chaos on Friday.

A gust of 92mph (148km/h) was recorded off the Pembrokeshire coast.

First Minister Mark Drakeford urged people to check on vulnerable neighbours on Friday night.

A Met Office red warning, which expired at 12:00 GMT on Friday, said there was a risk to life. An amber warning for all of Wales ended at 21:00.

The majority of schools in Wales closed, all trains were cancelled, thousands were left without power, and there was significant damage to properties as roofs were torn off and trees uprooted during the high winds.

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 and diversions in place.

The M48 Severn Bridge into south Wales remains shut but the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge has reopened.

Bridge operators said they believed this was the first time both crossings had been forced to close due to high winds since the second bridge opened in 1996.

At the peak of the storm, more than 40,000 properties were left without power, including 1,000 in Llansamlet in Swansea, 995 homes near St Clears, Carmarthenshire, 270 in Llanelli and 300 near Lampeter, Ceredigion.

Western Power said power had been restored to thousands of homes, however more than 37,000 customers in south Wales were still without power on Friday night.

Holly Price was cooking breakfast at her home in Christchurch Road, Newport, when she heard an "almighty bang" as the ceiling fell through.

"I just dropped to the ground, then ran upstairs to grab my daughter because she was screaming," she said.

"As I ran upstairs, I saw the ceiling come through. I grabbed my daughter, and any clothes that I could, and took her outside.

"Luckily enough the neighbour a couple of doors down took us inside to safety. But the sound will never, ever leave me."

The mother and daughter are now staying at her brother's, but Ms Price said they would not be able to return to their home, due to the scale of the damage and would have to find emergency shelter.

Firefighters said they were called at 10:48 to the road, and police said they had received reports of roofs on three properties falling down, and no-one had been hurt.

Firefighters were called out to more than 130 incidents after the storm hit, mostly in south, mid and west Wales.

In north Wales, firefighters were called to reports of a man trapped in a car in flood waters in Beaumaris, on Anglesey, and a roof blown off a house in Tywyn, Gwynedd.

The roof blew off the Co-op petrol station on Pontypridd Road in Barry and South Wales Police said a roof came off a building in Dalton Road, Sandfields, in Port Talbot.

In Carmarthen a roof struck a train at Carmarthen railway station and part of a flat roof was blown from the gym at Merthyr Tydfil's Bishop Hedley school.

At Wrexham Maelor hospital the main entrance was closed after damage was caused to the main entrance of the building.

The roof of the Medicentre at University Hospital of Wales (UHW), in Cardiff, fell victim to the high winds, while flats and homes were damaged around Wales.

Meanwhile an Asda store in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, was evacuated after cladding came loose from the front of the shop's entrance. The store had been closed as a "precautionary measure", a spokesman confirmed.

Aberystwyth's promenade, including Marine Terrace, was closed because of falling debris.

At Greenacres Rescue, in Little Haven, Pembrokeshire, rabbit and geese enclosures were blown around "like they were dolls houses" when the roof blew off a stable, but the animal rescue said while there was extensive damage, no animals had been hurt during the storm.

Following the high winds there were numerous reports of trees having fallen down across south Wales, with some blocking roads.

In Swansea, a 6m tall tree that stood for 40 years came down in 78-year-old Terry Branton's garden in Langland.

"Within two or three minutes I could just see the tree moving progressively over until it went crunch on to the front lawn," he said.

South Wales Police, the Coastguard, RNLI, and Natural Resources Wales all warned people to avoid coastal areas due to the risk to life.

"This is up there with some of the worst weather I've seen," said Chris Page, of the RNLI in Porthcawl.

"It's pretty wild out there. We've recorded wind gusts of 82mph and an average sort of wind speed of 48mph. Our advice is to stay at home."

Part of the M4 shut in Swansea as the Briton Ferry bridge closed in both directions.

More than 100 flood warnings were issued by Natural Resources Wales, meaning people should take immediate action to protect homes and businesses from damage.

Meanwhile, a yellow warning has been issued for ice for Flintshire 09:00 on Saturday.

Eunice came just two days after Storm Dudley, which caused power cuts, felled trees and saw a trampoline blown on to a railway line just outside of Cardiff.

BBC weather presenter Behnaz Akhgar said the peak of the storm came late in the morning, but "severe gales would continue after that".

A gust of 92mph (150km/h) was recorded at the Mid Channel Rock Lighthouse Beacon off St Ann's Head in Pembrokeshire, as well as one of 87.5mph (140km/h) in Mumbles, Swansea, with 79mph (125km/h) recorded in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, and 76mph (120km/h) recorded at Capel Curig, Conwy county.

Aidan McGivern, from the Met Office, said on Thursday it could be "one of the most powerful named storms since we started naming storms".

The red warning was the first the Met Office had issued for wind since 2018 and covered 10 Welsh counties: Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea and Vale of Glamorgan.

Transport for Wales cancelled all trains in the country for the whole of Friday, the first time this has ever happened in Wales ahead of a storm.

Several flights had been cancelled both arriving at and departing from Cardiff Airport.

Royal Mail said it expected "severe disruption" to the delivery, collection and distribution across the country.

Deliveries were suspended in areas under Met Office red warnings.

Irish Ferries and Stena Line cancelled all departures from Pembrokeshire and Fishguard. Stena also cancelled or delayed ferries departing from Holyhead.

Schools across Wales also shut after most councils announced closures on Thursday.

Sports fixtures were also affected with Cardiff Rugby's match against Zebre postponed.

National Highways, which operates the two Severn bridges, said staff were abused due to the closures.

It said: "We have staff out in this storm ensuring action is taken to keep road users safe and they are being abused for it. Respectfully, stop. Thank you."

The M4 Briton Ferry bridge in Swansea and Earlswood Bridge in Port Talbot also closed, as well as the Flintshire bridge on the A548.

On Fabian Way in Swansea a tree had fallen and traffic lights had collapsed near the turning for the Amazon warehouse.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council had closed all of its mountain roads to all traffic, except emergency vehicles, including the A4061 Bwlch mountain road, Rhigos mountain pass and A4233 Maerdy mountain road.

The A477 Cleddau Bridge in Pembrokeshire closed for high sided vehicles.

Britannia Bridge, between the mainland and Anglesey, closed to high-sided vehicles but Traffic Wales said many HGV drivers were ignoring the restriction and crossing anyway.