SPLASHDOWN
Downpours bring flooding to major roa roads
TORRENTIAL rain caused chaos on the roads yesterday as cars became stuck in floods and fire crews were called to rescue people stranded in their vehicles.
A yellow warning of rain was placed over most parts of South Wales from around midday and as heavy rain swept across the area, water levels continued to rise.
One lane of the A48 Western Avenue in Cardiff was blocked for almost an hour due to flooding and traffic was queueing as far back as the University Hospital of Wales.
A car broke down on Lowther Road in Cathays as it tried to make its way through high water.
And three people had to be led to safety by fire crews after becoming stuck in 2ft of floods at St Andrew’s Place in Cathays Park at around 6.45pm.
In Ewenny near Bridgend fire crews had to put on dry suits to rescue four people from a vehicle stranded in flood water.
And for those travelling by train, services between Swansea and London were experiencing delays of up to 60 minutes and the railway at Lisvane and Thornhill were blocked, with replacement road transport in place between Cardiff Queen Street and Caerphilly.
The Met Office said the worst affected areas were Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan, most areas in the Valleys, Swansea and Carmarthenshire.
The Chief Forecaster warned that up to 25mm of rain could fall within one hour in those areas and said that hail and lightning were also possible.
Water entered the cellar of the Royal Oak Hotel on Broadway in Splott and a basement kitchen of a house in Cathays.
The Met Office said the heavy and thundery showers were expected to ease through Wednesday night, making way for a drier and brighter day today with some sunny spells.
But showers could develop into this afternoon, turning heavy and possibly thundery at times.