Beware and Take Care
Please secure temporary structures and other items on your property likely to fall victim to strong gusts such as any scaffolding, bins, garden furniture and play items, especially football goals and trampolines. Review your travel plans especially if you intend to travel towards Wrexham over the weekend.
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING: The following advice has been issued by Wrexham Council’s Environment & Technical Dept., covering expected poor weather from today (Friday 14th February) through to Tuesday 18th February 2020.
All necessary reports of incidents should be made via the usual reporting routes and WCBC’s out-of-hours response call line. Tel: 0300 333 22 22
“The following report has been prepared to advise of the likely implications to residents and members of the public living and travelling through Wrexham County Borough during the weekend. The information used in the note is based on a number of sources and combines advice from a number of forecasts and contains latest advice from the Trunk Road Agency (NMWTRA).
A temporary speed restriction of 30mph will be established on the A483 and A5 viaducts in Wrexham over the weekend.
Based on current forecasts precautionary full closure of the viaducts will be required between 19:00 Saturday 15th February to 07:00 Sunday 16th February (During this period wind speeds are forecast at near 70mph).
‘Storm Dennis’ is predicted to hit between Friday evening through to Tuesday afternoon. The area will be subject to gales in excess of 70mph and heavy rainfall.
Saturday 15th February
Forecasts for Saturday are as follows;
o 00:00 to 06:00 – Wind speeds will gradually increase from the early hours of Saturday morning. Travel for caravans, cyclists and motorcyclists are likely to be impacted.
o 06:00 to 12:00 – Wind speeds are forecasted to increase in strength later during Saturday Morning. General consistency between forecasters for this period with Stage 2 & 3 restrictions likely.
o 12:00 to 15:00 – During this period forecasts vary slightly in maximum gust speeds – the maximum gust speed during this period close (68mph) the 70 mph (closure threshold for A483 bridges) – other forecasts also show wind speeds during this period close to the closure threshold. Therefore during this period potential A483 (south) full bridge closure is possible.
o 15:00 to 21:00 – Wind speeds will gradually decrease over this period – but travel with certain vehicle types will remain difficult.
o 21:00 to 00:00 – During this period wind speeds will grow in strength with restrictions to large vehicle likely.
Sunday 16th February
o 00:00 to 06:00 – General consistence between forecasts that wind speed will increase during this period. General forecasts show gust speed over the closure threshold (bridges A483 South) of 70 mph during this period. Therefore it is likely that a full bridge closure will be required.
o 06:00 onwards – Current forecasts show that wind speeds will decrease slightly from Sunday. Travel for large vehicles will continue to be difficult throughout the whole of Sunday.
Potential Risks
Fallen Trees due to high winds, trees in full canopy and saturated ground. Trees being fully uprooted cannot be ruled out
Infrastructure damage / objects in highway.
Flash flooding due to overwhelmed syphons / culverts and saturated ground
Street Scene Extreme Weather Operation Team
The street scene service will continue to provide operational Emergency response throughout the period.
WCBC’s planned ‘response’ teams are being supplemented with additional resource over the weekend periods. The Winter Maintenance team will also be in operation. Based on current forecasts, this service is likely to be deploying during the early part of the weekend but unlikely to be operational during
the peak of the storm conditions. The team will remain on standby throughout.
Action Plan & Mitigation Measures
Away from major travel routes, high winds and heavy rain are also expected across the region. Having just suffered a major storm during last weekend much of the area is still recovering. Whilst major disruption and damage has been cleared the forecast conditions are likely to compound recent problem sites and we anticipate main areas will experience repeated issues. The following actions will be undertaken across the weekend:
Emergency Operational Teams will be prepared to respond to incidents of damage infrastructure and fallen tress which present a danger to the public and travel.
Respond to significant road and carriageway flooding.
Known flood risk areas will be inspected during periods of the heaviest rain.
Traffic Wales have initiated an Adverse Weather Message Campaign to advise, warn and inform drivers of the current forecasted conditions.
Advisory messages have been distributed to the Freight Haulage Associations for cascade to their members
Emergency Response Resources & Structure
Wrexham Council’s ‘Emergency Response’ includes a nominated ‘Duty Supervisor who will field and log all calls and deploy teams as necessary. The teams will respond to emergency incidents. During and throughout the weekend WCBC have made necessary arrangements to increase operational response levels. Additional Supervisory and operational team support will be on-call to react to incidents.”
Follow BBC Weather Reports for forecast updates. Please check on elderly or vulnerable neighbours and dial 101 if you have concerns about someone’s safety or 999 if there is imminent danger to life.
