Given the fact that it is winter and the effects that climate change is having on global weather patterns, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that we’ve just had out first major storm of 2021.
After the Met Office issued yellow warnings for three days of heavy rain, it came as no surprise to see many rivers overflowing and roads flooded in the Swansea valley between Wednesday, 20 January and Thursday, 21 January, as Storm Christoph made its presence felt.
In fact, an estimated 20cm (8in) of rain fell during the period in some parts of Wales.
One local road, notorious for flooding during heavy rainfall, is the B4291 Ynyspenllwch Road, between the Mond in Clydach to the roundabout at Glais, and this time was no exception.
For once I decided to take the opportunity to witness the flooding at first hand, so armed with my camera I headed off in the pouring rain to capture the scene.
As you can see from the photograph I took above, the road was impassable! Unsurprisingly it remained that way for the best part of 24 hours, although it didn’t deter some motorists from trying their luck and driving through the flooded road.
I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the local newspapers, the South Wales Guardian, use the image I took on their Storm Christoph news article on their website.
Another local area that always seems to bear the brunt of any heavy (torrential?) rainfall are the Vardre rugby club playing fields, which resemble more a swimming pool than rugby pitch.
Perhaps the club should start a water polo team to take advantage of the dual purpose pitches they appear to have at their disposal.
No doubt there will be many more storms to come this year, with Storm Darcy the next in line to wreak havoc in the UK according to the Met Office.