Thursday, February 13, 2014

Battle to restore power after gales

Battle continues to restore power to homes after 100mph winds

ScottishPower engineers at Llandre, Ceredigion ScottishPower engineers have been working around the clock to restore electricity supplies

More than 30,000 homes remain without power after 100mph storms hit Wales.

Engineers have been working around the clock to restore electricity supplies since Wednesday's high winds brought widespread blackouts.

In north and mid Wales, about 25,000 homes are without power, while in the south and west, 5,500 properties are waiting to be reconnected.

It comes as the Met Office issues a yellow weather warning for Friday of more heavy rain and possibly snow.

ScottishPower, which is responsible for the power network across north and mid Wales, said Friday's weather could cause further problems for its teams already struggling to connect customer supplies.

"We do have concerns about tomorrow," Guy Jefferson from ScottishPower told BBC Wales.

"We are expecting 60 to 70mph gusts again tomorrow - not as bad as we had yesterday, in terms of the 100mph gusts that we had across north Wales.

"But it is still dangerous in terms of working at heights.

"That's why we've now got over 1,000 staff working in the field in north Wales to make sure we get our customers back on as soon as we possibly can."

For many councils, the break in the weather on Thursday has given teams a chance to start cleaning up widespread damage.

First Minister Carwyn Jones has praised the response of all those involved.

"We coped very well. The warning was there," he told BBC Radio Wales.

Roofing at Porthmadog Plenty to clear-up - in Porthmadog, roofing ripped up at the town's train station

"Despite the warning there was still a lot of damage. It may seem an odd thing to say but it could have been worse.

"Fortunately nobody was killed, although there were some injuries.

"The big challenge now is to reconnect people to the power supplies as quickly as possible."

At the height of the storm, military help was offered but not taken up.

Mr Jones has said it was not yet clear whether Wales could receive additional funds from the UK government to help with the clear-up, although the prime minister has said extra money would be set aside to help affected communities.

The focus on the weather has now turned to Friday, with renewed warnings from the Met Office.

It has issued yellow alerts for rain covering much of south and west Wales on Friday morning from 04:00 GMT.

"The public should be aware of the potential for further flooding in places," said forecasters.

A yellow alert for snow is also in place for Friday morning, covering parts of south east Wales, mid Wales and into Conwy, Denbighshire and Wrexham.

Sand blowing in street at Aberdovey, Gwynedd At the height of the storm, winds hit 108mph in parts of Gwynedd

The Met Office said between 2 and 5cm (0.7-2in) of snow is possible on higher ground above 300m (980ft).

"We could have some problems across the Heads of the Valleys right up to Conwy," warned a BBC Wales weather presenter.

"The good news is the snow will turn back to rain as we get milder air through the afternoon."

Three flood warnings remain in force in Wales, covering the River Wye at Monmouth, the River Severn at Pool Quay and Trewern, and the Lower Dee Valley from Llangollen to Trevalyn Meadows.

Natural Resources Wales also has nine flood alerts in place.


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