Wales weather: Tenby caravan site evacuated as Storm Ciarán hits

A caravan park evacuated residents following a warning that flooding could pose a risk to life.

Forecasters predicted heavy winds and rain as Storm Ciarán hit Wales.

Natural Resources Wales said Kiln Park caravan park in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, suffered flooding and the owners asked guests to leave the site.

The Met Office issued yellow warnings for wind and rain across south, mid and north Wales on Wednesday and Thursday.

It said gusts of up to 70mph (110km/h) could cause travel disruption, damage to buildings, and flying debris with forecasters saying some areas could see up to 100mm (3.9in) of rain.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) issued a severe flood warning for the River Ritec at Tenby, as well as a number of flood alerts.

It covered the the B4318 road at Clicketts Lane, Gumfreston Road and Trefloyne Lane, as well as Kiln Park.

Holidaymaker Kirk Merrick, 63, who had been at the park with his daughter and granddaughter since Monday, said: "We know the storm is coming.

"We've been told we need to evacuate, and that we'll be reimbursed when possible.

"I'm a bit cheesed off, we've been looking forward to this for a long time."

Newly married Katie Walters, 33, from Port Talbot, was at the park with husband Stephen and three children as part of celebrations for their wedding a fortnight ago.

"We had a knock on the caravan door at half past two, with staff saying, the park is flooded, and there's a storm coming, we need you to get out," she said.

"The majority of the park is under water, and it's going to rise.

"They are now closed until Monday, so all bookings over the next few days have been cancelled.

"I've got three children who were crying and didn't want to go home, so we are now looking for other places to go to this week."

Kiln Park's parent company Haven said it had closed the site as safety was its priority.

"We are in dialogue with local authorities to ensure guests are safely evacuated from the park," a spokesman said.

In terms of the winds, the latest charts show the peak gusts are now less intense. Strongest gusts are set to be about 60-65mph, that is for exposed coastal areas within the warning area.

Coastal fringes of Pembrokeshire in the west/south-west still look set to see the highest gusts.

Rainfall looks to be the bigger issue, only because of all the rainfall we have had already - so the cumulative effect of the rainfall is the problem.

Given the saturated ground and high river levels in places, then there will be surface water and spray on some of the roads, with the chance for some flooding too.

The worst of the storm will still be over southern portions of England, English Channel coasts, the Channel Islands.

On Thursday afternoon, the main rain band will pivot around north Wales, becoming confined to north east Wales towards the evening.

Elsewhere, blustery showers, with peak wind gusts this afternoon touching 50-60mph for exposed coastal areas in the south, more so the south-west, for most of the country it will not feel stormy.

On Thursday evening it will still be breezy for the west coast, but the winds will moderate and the main rain band will have cleared through, leaving some scattered sharp showers.

NRW flood risk manager Wyn Davies said its staff were "making sure we have the resources we need to manage our way through the storm".

He said: "It's important that people understand the risk, they can put useful plans together for flooding too, including by using our website.

"We're expecting climate change to mean there will be more frequent heavy rainfall events, but we can't prevent every flood incident."

Pembrokeshire council said it would open an emergency shelter for homeless people because of the weather.

Ceredigion council said it was doubling its roads emergency response capabilities.

Transport for Wales said trains would not run on Thursday on the Heart of Wales and Conwy Valley lines.

Both Holyhead and Milford Haven coastguards said they had a routine night despite the weather.

Pembrokeshire council asked residents not to put their bins out overnight, and if possible, to hold on to them until next week's collection.

Powys council said it was preparing by making sandbags available to teams, checking the working order of flood defences, and clearing gullies and ditches.

Councillor Jackie Charlton said: "Flood defences across the county are ready to be used and depots have supplies of sandbags ready to deploy, if needed.

"Flooding hotspots are being monitored and staff are engaging with local flood groups in to ensure that communities are as prepared as can be."

Chris Cousens of RNLI Wales said: "We're expecting some quite serious weather over the next 24-48 hours, these conditions normally bring with them much bigger waves and more hazardous conditions at the coast."

He said while it may seem appealing to go and "experience the weather" the RNLI strongly advised against doing so.

Additional reporting by Rowenna Hoskin