In total, the council received over 300 calls to our contact centre over the weekend due to the impact of the storm, with reports of over 189 trees impacted across the city.

The strength of the winds during Storm Darragh brought more trees down in the city in one night than in 20 years. One hundred and eleven of these trees have been made safe already, as they posed a danger to the public, with 78 remaining trees falling in parkland and posing no danger to the public. Tree surgeons will continue to work during daylight hours to continue to remove fallen trees.

Two road closures in Cardiff were put in place over the weekend. Several trees fell on the slip road off Leckwith roundabout, leading to the A4232 towards Culverhouse Cross, as well as in Heol Goch in Pentyrch. Both road closures were lifted by 4pm on Sunday afternoon, to ensure these routes were open to traffic.

The priority during extreme weather events is always to ensure the safety of the public and our workforce whilst continuing to deliver essential services to some of the most vulnerable members of the community. Work delivering Social Services, Housing (including homelessness provision), Meals on Wheels, Telecare, Highways, and the Harbour Authority continued through the duration of the storm.

The Emergency Management Team worked closely with Natural Resources Wales to monitor the levels of the three rives that run into Cardiff. The flood alerts for the Ely River and Rhymney River were removed on Saturday evening, while the alert for the River Taff ended on Sunday morning.

All of the services that were disrupted by the storm have now re-opened, including the recycling centres; the cemeteries; Cardiff Riding School; Cardiff International White Water High Ropes; Cardiff Dogs Home; Bute Park Light Trail; Working Street Christmas attractions, and Cardiff Castle.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Huw Thomas said: “The impact of these storms is difficult to mitigate, but as soon as the council was notified of the forecast, preventative measures were put in place. We ensured that gullies and culverts were clear, areas that are prone to flooding in the city were assessed and any structures on the highways, such as scaffolding were checked to ensure they didn’t pose any danger to the public.

“The impact of the storm was significant with over 160 trees falling across the city. Staff worked around the clock at the weekend to ensure that the fallen trees were prioritised and all the trees which posed a danger to the public were removed.

“During storm warnings, the council’s priority is always to ensure that essential services continue to be delivered, and this was the case during this Red Weather Warning. I would like to thank all staff that worked throughout the weekend to ensure the public remained safe. Everyone did a miraculous job, well done and thank you again.”