Gale Force Winds Hit Wrexham

Severe winds hit Wrexham this morning, causing trees to blow over and traffic problems across the town – were updating this page live.

If you have been affected or have pictures of damage please email us on [email protected]

14:50 After conducting a round up of the area it does appear the winds are easing off and any high tides due for the coast have passed. Damage has occured in Wrexham, however further north on the coast it seems much more affected with lifeboats in action rescuing residents. One set of bad weather is however due to roll into another, with wintry showers expected on high ground throughout the night and warnings of ice for the area.

#wxmgrit @wrexham gritting taking place this evening. Take care out there and drive carefully.

— Wrexham Council (@wrexhamcbc) December 5, 2013

14:22 We asked Wrexham Council for an update and they have said “This morning, staff from our environment department attended to fallen trees in Stockwell Grove, Sontley Road, B5426 between Ruabon and Johnstown, Chester Road at the nine-acre field and Wrexham By-pass. All sites were made safe.”

“This afternoon, there were trees down on both Hillock Lane and Pistyll Hill in Marford, which have brought down powerlines and street lighting columns.”

“Environment Dept Staff have attended these sites and reported the issues to Scottish Power who have been requested to undertake all necessary action to remedy these matters.”

13:45 Wrexham based company Healthcare Matters tweeted us @wrexham to say ” I’d avoid going through Moss Valley. One of our drivers had their windscreen smashed by a falling branch!”

13:34 Laura says “Huge trees on Llay New Road on the way in to Llay. I had to swerve to opposite side of road.” She also says there are ‘very big pieces of branches’ on the road, warning people to be careful.

13:24 Alison from Rossett has been in touch to say a tree is down on Marford hill, blocking one lane of the old Wrexham Road however traffic is still getting past. We on the other hand have just had a quick walk around town and seen various bits of signage broken and blowing about.

13:04 – Nicola Steele has sent us this photo of a tree that has fallen down on Ty Gwyn Lane. Drive safe out there!

12:45 Taking a look towards the coast Deeside.com are running their own live update blog (you can read it by clicking here), including images from around Deeside, plus there is a picture below from the River Dee in Chester as high tide approaches.

Queensferry jubilee bridge pic.twitter.com/YL1sybxN2K

— Deeside.com (@DeesideDotCom) December 5, 2013

@ChesterChron water is very high at the cop take care out there!! pic.twitter.com/lldPjMY7NY

— Andrew Clarke (@andy2k88) December 5, 2013

12:30 – John has tweeted us this picture of a sheep in Penycae that got trapped under a fallen tree. John said his brother and friend did manage to rescue it though!

12:28pm – 

There are no trains between Chester and Holyhead because of poor weather conditions #UKStorm

— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) December 5, 2013

Midday – Charlotte has just sent us this picture of a tree that has blown down in Yale College.

11:39 –

Line now closed at Chirk due to tree in contact with overhead power lines. More information when known.

— Arriva Trains Wales (@ArrivaTW) December 5, 2013

11:26 – Update from National Rail: “Obstructions at Ruabon and between Church Stretton and Shrewsbury are causing delays of up to 60 minutes.”

Geraint Hughes has also been in touch to say that trains between Ruabon and Chester have been delayed and later trains cancelled due to a tree on the track in Gobowen.

11:00am – We’ve had a quick look on Rain Today and looks as though a light band of rain is due to pass over soon. Last night a weather warning was issued for parts of the River Dee, the Industrial Park, Garden City, Sealand etc.

Elsewhere In Connah’s Quay /Deeside Industrial Park,  Deeside.com have reported that the bridge has been closed in both directions.

10:00am – We’ve just essentially been swept through town with the wind. Walking down the High Street and behind Eagles Meadow are particularly breezy places to walk! There are however a few people braving the wind and doing their shopping.

Wrexham Council have tweeted to say that their environment staff are investigating reports of fallen trees across the borough, and that all sites are being assessed and made safe.

Down the side of Chester Road there are a fair few recycling boxes blowing around, along with some plastic bags and rubbish on the roads. We also saw a bollard near Gresford Heath that is defying gravity.

On nine acre / Chester Road a tree has blown over and has split in half, causing damage to the nearby fence. Luckily though, it didn’t fall onto the road. Craig Lewis sent us this brilliant picture of the damage caused:

9:40am: Sontley Road is closed and a tree has fallen on Stockwell Grove and damaged the facias of one of the houses there. Council men in attendance attempting to resolve

7:30am : A yellow weather warning (despite the icon on the Met Office site being amber!) was issued for Wrexham, with the strong winds causing problems for drivers this morning.

Samantha got in touch to say that a tree had blown over and was blocking the road on Park Avenue. A similar situation happened on Chester Road, where a tree was blown over due to the high winds, but luckily didn’t fall onto the road.

Traffic issues were caused by the Sharps factory due to a tree blowing over in Llay. A similar situation happened on the Wrexham Road where a tree was blocking the road. In Ruabon police attended at around 8:50 this morning near Travis Perkins, where a tree was hanging across the road.

There have also been reports of a lot of debris on the roads, which mainly seems to be due to bins and recycling boxes blowing over. One person did get in touch to say they just had to save their bin from the neighbours pond!

Matty contacted Wrexham.com to say that the temporary traffic lights on Hawarden Road had blown down and were causing traffic chaos.

Tomas Jones also tweeted us, telling the people of Wrexham to strap your trampolines down as his sister’s landed on the neighbours roof!

We went to have a look at the A483 and although it looked ok, we recommend you take extra precaution while on the roads today!

Below are some of the pictures you’ve been sending us of damage caused by the wind.

Charlotte Powell tweeted us this picture of her garden fence panel being blown in.

Recycling bins and their litter being blown around seems to be a theme of the day. Jessica Vaughan sent us this picture earlier this morning

Mandy Austin emailed us this photo of a tile that had blown off a roof and landed embedded in her garden!

Carl Thornton sent us this photo of a bin that has blown over at the back of McDonald’s. We do love a good ‘Bin in wind’ photo!

Carl Thornton also sent through this photo of Wrexham Carpets, who have had the ham blown away.

James Davies has sent us this photo of a tree that has fallen down in Stockwell Grove