THE big thaw that followed heavy snowfall has led to flooding problems in parts of North East Wales.
And there is a warning of more wet weather to come.
Flood warnings were in place yesterday in areas including the Lower Dee Valley from Llangollen to Chester, where isolated properties, roads and farmland were hit.
River levels rose throughout the day as rain and rising temperatures washed away last week’s snow.
Bangor-on-Dee, Pontblyddyn, Rossett and the Alyn catchment area all remained on amber flood alert.
Problems started in the early hours of Sunday after heavy rain fell and snow melted on Saturday night.
At 4am a fire crew from Wrexham was called to flooding inside a property on Wallington Lane, Worthenbury.
The crew pumped the water away and requested sandbags, a spokesman for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said.
At 4.30am two properties were flooded by three inches of water at Vicarage Fields, Ruabon. The flooding was caused by blocked culverts and run-off from nearby fields, the spokesman said.
A crew from Johnstown lifted manholes to allow the water to subside.
Problems continued during the day with flooding outside at Manor Lane, Broughton at 9am. No properties were affected, but the road was impassable.
Fire crews also pumped water from the A539 Overton Road near Ruabon for close to four hours to deal with flooding on the road.
Sheep were reported to be in flood water at Erddig Country Park on Sunday afternoon, but were all pulled to safety by the time crews arrived, a spokesman said.
Rain is forecast tonight and throughout the day tomorrow Environment Agency Wales is advising people to remain vigilant and take extra care while travelling as driving conditions could be hazardous.
A spokesman said: “Flood water is extremely dangerous and people should not attempt to walk or drive through it.
“The agency is advising people to keep a close eye on the forecast and listen in to local news updates for any disruption in their area.”
For the latest on flood alerts and warnings go to www.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood or call Floodline on 0845 988 1188.
People can also keep up to date with the latest information and advice on Twitter @Envagencywales.
- HEAVY snow caused chaos on roads across the region ahead of this weekend’s big thaw.
Even heavily-used major roads were clogged within an hour.
On the roads around Wrexham and Flintshire, vehicles were stuck for hours and some abandoned.
Falling from about 7pm, some areas reported eight centimetres of snow. On major trunk roads such as the A483, A541, A55 and M56 road markings were obscured and traffic slowed to a crawl in the hazardous conditions.
There were reports of both cars and lorries stuck in the snow, forcing other motorists to a standstill.
On many roads motorists simply gave up and left their cars, with steep inclines becoming impassable. Sophie Jeffs, 19, said: “I got stuck on the bypass trying to get home from Llay.
“Loads of cars were just abandoned. It took us nearly an hour… (it was the) scariest thing ever. There was no controlling the car.
“We were doing 10mph all the way and still managed to get stuck for about 10 minutes.”
Rachel Taylor, 42, said: “My daughter, Samantha, got stuck driving to her boyfriend’s in Southsea.
“She had to abandon her car and he met her and they had to walk back to his house.”
Leader sports editor Nick Harrison was on the A525 Bangor to Wrexham Road at just after midnight.
“There were two lorries that couldn’t get up the hill,” he said. “A man was getting out of one of them as we were coming down. We couldn’t push him. We just had to leave them on the side of the road.”
Mr Harrison said he was in a taxi, although most firms had stopped driving for the night due to the conditions.
Arriva buses stopped running services from early evening.
The past week has seen snow remain on the ground across much of North Wales, after heavy snowfall a week last Friday.