HARD RAIN’S GONNA FALL AS STORM DYLAN BLOWS IN

WALES is set to miss the worst of Storm Dylan, although the country will still see strong winds and a possible risk of flooding over the New Year period.

While forecasters are warning of gales of 80mph and the potential for “injuries and danger to life from flying debris” in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Wales will be more fortunate.

It will escape the worst of the storm but there will still be winds of up to 50mph and a flood risk over the coming days as downpours hit.

A Met Office yellow warning for heavy rain is in place covering Cardiff and much of the surrounding area until 9am today.

The warning – which also covers Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport and the Vale of Glamorgan – says there could be rising water levels, most likely this morning, with some very heavy rain possible for a time. As much as 15-25mm of rain is likely with some spots seeing 30-40mm with much of this falling in three hours or so this morning.

Bus and train services will “probably be affected”, along with spray and flooding on some roads, making journey times longer, and flooding of a few homes and businesses is also possible.

Met Office forecaster Sarah Kent said the rest of New Year’s Eve will see a mixture of sunny spells and blustery showers. The showers will be heavy at times, perhaps merging to give longer spells of rain. It will feel colder, with maximum temperatures at 10°C.

Ms Kent added: “The winds do start easing from Sunday. Aside from the weather warning area, those showers will be isolated in the morning but by the middle parts of the day they will become more frequent.

“In the showers themselves we could see some hail mixed in as well. Towards the evening the showers do start dying away.

“They don’t die out entirely but many places will get away with it being dry as we see the New Year in.

“For example, in Cardiff, the odds of catching a shower at midnight will be slim. The winds will be a lot lighter than they were in the day, too.”

New Year’s Day will see a mixture of sunshine and showers.

According to Ms Kent, there’s another band of showers heading towards Wales that will be most frequent for northern parts of the country.

She added: “There’s a small risk that the extreme southern parts of Wales – Cardiff and Barry – might see a spell of rain in the middle parts of the morning.”

“It’s going to be around 8°C to 9°C but will feel colder than that in the wind.”

Rain will then arrive from the west on Tuesday, with some hill snow.

Ms Kent said: “There’s probably going to be a little bit of frost early on Tuesday but things will warm up pretty quickly.

“There will be a band of rain coming in from the west and all of Wales is going to be wet and windy.”

Strong winds and blustery showers will hit on Wednesday.