Storm Ciaran triggers Severe Flood Warning and evacuation of over 900 people in Tenby

Storm Ciaran brought very strong winds and heavy rain to Wales on 31 October and 1 November 2023, soon after Storm Babet. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) says the already saturated catchment of the River Ritec in Tenby meant a Severe Flood Warning was issued as the river reached record levels¹.

NRW attended the multi-agency response. In its flood risk management annual report for 2023 to 2024, the body states that the advice it gave led to the evacuation of over 900 people as flood waters inundated the Kiln Park Holiday site in the area¹.

The same site flooded again during Storm Henk on 2 January 2024, when the River Ritec was again subject to a severe flood warning and the Kiln Park caravan park flooded for the second time that winter. During Storm Henk, NRW issued a total of 30 Flood Warnings and 40 Flood Alerts across Wales¹.

The report places the events in a wetter context. It says the period from October 2023 to March 2024 was the second wettest winter ever in the UK, according to the Met Office, and that there were 12 named storms between April 2023 and March 2024, against none in the previous financial year. More flood alerts were issued during 2023/24 than in any of the previous three years¹. NRW reports that its network of flood defences, which benefit 102,000 properties across Wales, prevented flooding in many areas during Storm Henk¹.

Why it matters for households

The report gives the scale of exposure in Wales: 272,817 properties are estimated to be at risk of flooding, approximately 1 in 7 properties, and as of April 2024 the undefended sum of properties at risk is 340,046¹. For households in Tenby and elsewhere, the Ciaran and Henk events show that a severe flood warning can precede evacuation, and that a site can flood more than once in a single winter. NRW describes a severe flood warning as meaning there is a danger to life¹. Its account of the response sets out the sequence it followed: monitoring forecasts, issuing warnings, checking that flood assets are operating, posting information on its website and supporting other responder organisations¹.

What happens next

NRW says it made significant progress on a new and updated Flood Warning Service which will enter operation in the summer, and that work to replace its Flood Warning System and Telemetry system continued during the year¹. It published its Flood Risk Management Plan for Wales in November 2023, setting out priorities for the next six years, and in January 2024 published a report on the investment required in flood defences to manage Wales' future flood risk from rivers and the sea¹. The report also records completion of a flood alleviation scheme in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, protecting 223 properties, and £56.6m of Welsh Government funding on key flood risk management activities in 2023/24¹.

Households can check Flood Alerts, Flood Warnings and Severe Flood Warnings and the checklist when a flood warning is issued. For Wales, Natural Resources Wales warnings and risk maps set out how to follow its alerts, and coastal flooding, tidal surges and erosion covers the sea-driven risks that accompany storms. Practical measures for properties are set out under flood doors and flood windows, and home insurance in a flood risk area and Flood Re explains the insurance position. The flooding hub collects the guides.