BURST riverbanks, road closures and animal rescues were the order of the weekend in Gwent, as Storm Callum swept through the area.

Torrential rain which swept in late on Friday evening, through much of Saturday, and into yesterday, brought a trail of destruction across much of Wales, including the death of a 20-year-old man in a landslip in Carmarthenshire.

The River Usk was particularly badly affected for much of its length, and Castle Meadows in Abergavenny – and the opposite bank in Llanfoist – were among the areas hit.

The meadows were underwater for much of Saturday, water reached the back of the Bridge Inn at Llanfoist, and gardens and even patios of homes in Merthyr Road in that village were underwater at the height of the storm.

Tanya Nicholls, 49, who lives in a cottage in Merthyr Road with her family, woke up on Saturday morning to find her garden underwater.

She described the river as having risen several feet as Friday progressed, and, waking at 3am on Saturday, she found the entire garden flooded.

“It has happened before, but nowhere near as bad as this for about 12 years,” she said .

“It has caused damage. Not sure how much until the water recedes.

“Next door has an outbuilding that he keeps his dogs in. He had to evacuate them at 3am (on Saturday).

By midday yesterday the waters had receded, though the river was at the top of its banks.

“I came to walk the dog here yesterday (Saturday), and from the car park all you could see was water in the Castle Meadows,” said David Price, of Abergavenny, who was back out on the soggy but clear meadows on Sunday.

“You couldn’t see really where the river was. It was a lake here,”

Debris – including several trees uprooted and washed miles downstream – was blocking one of the arches of the bridge over the Usk at Llanfoist.

Flood water submerged acres of farmland in the Abergavenny area too, and the A4042 road remained closed last night, both ways between Llanellen and the roundabout at the A465 outside the town.

In Gilwern, horse owner Gareth Silcox and friend Matthew Burton waded into a flooded field on Saturday morning to save the former’s horses from drowning.

Neighbour Becky Eardley, who captured their efforts on video, said: “They were so brave to go into the water to rescue them.

“The horses were shocked and shivering but quite calm considering what they had been through, and were OK.”

One of the horses had been partially submerged and had to be freed after getting stuck on a fence.

“It took about two hours to bring the animals to safety,” added Ms Eardley.

Five miles upstream from Abergavenny, the Usk broke its banks to the extent that the town of Crickhowell was turned into a temporary island, as roads had to be closed.

A flood warning remained in force for the river at Usk last night – one of 11 across Wales, the majority of which were in the south west.

There were also 14 active flood alerts, including five pertaining to Gwent.

The latter involved the Wye, the Severn, the Usk in Monmouthshire and Newport, and the Monnow in Monmouth.

Despite the disruption in parts of Gwent, other areas of Wales – notably Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and south Powys bore the brunt of Storm Callum’s fury.

The man who died in Carmarthenshire was named as 21-year-old Corey Sharpling, of Newcastle Emlyn, following a landslip on the A484 at Cwmduad between Carmarthen and Cardigan on Saturday.