Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Over the last few years, West Wales has been battered by extreme weather. Are these one-off events, or the start of something new? Forecast is a performance commissioned by local social enterprise Ymlaen Ceredigion in partnership with Ceredigion County Council and Aberystwyth University. It has been created by BBC playwright Sarah Woods*, and aims to initiate a conversation on extreme weather and climate change, our experiences and our response. It includes interviews from local people including Mick Fothergill from Talybont: “We thought we knew all the moods of the river we'd seen it in all sorts of different states but… there was a complete different face to the river that we saw on that night…” Also from river and climate expert Professor Mark Macklin from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences: “I've got thirty years of my lifetime to watch this unfold. Sea level will continue to rise, the amount is up for debate but it might be tens of centimetres……. it's not s...

A fire in a bog is probably the last thing you would expect after the weather we have had over the past few days. But that is the situation in Ceredigion, where 2.5 acres of peat bog is burning, causing smoke to billow around the area. See link to Carmarthen Journal story in headline.

Carmarthenshire Council highways crews will be on standby over the weekend as severe weather could cause disruption across the county. A combination of high tides, a positive surge, strong winds and large waves could lead to minor coastal flooding, particularly on Saturday. Properties and communities in coastal locations may be affected; disruption to travel is possible as well as further damage to previously compromised flood defence infrastructure. Sandbags have been delivered to areas affected by the New Year storms including Llangennech, Llansteffan, Laugharne, Llanddowror and Pendine. Some remedial works have been carried out along the Llanelli coast and the existing flood defence boards at Pendine have been reinforced and backed by a wall of sandbags. A temporary pump also continues to be on site at Llansteffan. Crews will be on standby in the event of road closures at the above locations, as well as the Quayside in Carmarthen. Householders are being reminded that sandbags are...