STORM Ciara caused chaos across south east Wales last weekend with winds of up to 80mph bringing down trees and leaving thousands of homes without power – and Storm Dennis will follow in its predecessor’s wake.  

Amber and yellow warnings have been issued for large parts of Gwent on Saturday and Sunday.

Rainfall of between 20-80mm is likely and with the storm set to affect the same areas battered last week, flooding is likely says the Met Office.

Indeed, Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis are “fairly similar”, said the Met Office’s Oli Claydon.

“There will be a large area of low pressure, bringing widespread wind and heavy rain.

“Both storms were driven by a very strong jet stream.”

But Mr Claydon said the storms are “ever so slightly different”.

“Storm Ciara was more of a wind impact, of up to 80-to-90mph.

“With Storm Dennis, the main risk is going to be rainfall.

“There will still be very strong winds, but really the main risk is rainfall in areas that have already been affected by Storm Ciara.”

Storm Dennis is set to cause the same widespread disruption that Storm Ciara inflicted on south east Wales and the risk of flooding is higher.

Indeed, the amber warning for heavy rain has been expanded from the northern parts of Gwent down to Newport.

There will be wind gusts of around 42mph and there may be up to 120mm of rain on the high grounds throughout south east Wales.

The Met Office is warning that “very heavy rain” will cause flooding and disruption to travel over the weekend.

South Wales Argus:

What to expect

  • Homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, causing damage to some buildings
  • Fast flowing or deep floodwater is likely, causing danger to life
  • Delays and some cancellations to train and bus services are likely
  • Spray and flooding probably leading to difficult driving conditions and some road closures
  • A good chance some communities cut off by flooded roads
  • Power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses likely

Martyn Brennan, operations director for Transport for Wales Rail and Chris Pearce, Network Rail’s head of operations delivery for Wales and Borders said: “This Saturday will see Storm Dennis, bringing winds of up to 60mph, extremely heavy rain and a potential flooding risk around our network.

“The safety of our customers and colleagues is our first priority and as a result there will be speed restrictions in place across our network, on Saturday, and some areas will see a reduced service running."

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“We expect to see extremely heavy rainfall on areas already affected by Storm Ciara last week and are preparing extensively for this.

“We will be working closely together to keep our customers moving however there are likely to be some short notice amendments on both Saturday and Sunday and we encourage all customers to check journey planning websites prior to travel.”