Flash floods hit parts of Wales amid weather warning for thundery downpours

After a dry and sunny Saturday morning for most in Wales, the afternoon brought with it heavy downpours which resulted in flash flooding in parts of the country. It comes after an area of low pressure that brought heavy rain and caused flooding in parts of France and Germany yesterday headed towards the UK.

Some areas in western Germany have seen a month's worth of rain in a couple of hours. The Met Office warned of thundery downpours in parts of Wales this afternoon, with the weather set to improve on Sunday, May 19. The yellow warning is in place from 1pm to 8pm on Saturday, May 18. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter

The warning states: "Whilst many places will see little or no rainfall, some locations could see 20-30 mm in an hour or two. There is a small chance that repeated shower development could result in a few places seeing 40-50 mm. Showers and thunderstorms will gradually fade during Saturday evening."

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Residents living in Pontypridd reported sudden and heavy rain from around 2.30pm following a pleasant morning. Some areas and properties saw flooding including the Sainsbury's store on Brown Lennox Retail Park.

Jonathan Holcroft shared footage of the scene, which shows water gushing through the front entrance. The 41-year-old said: "We went to the cash machine and then turned around and it was raining torrentially. We were waiting in the under layer of Sainsbury's and filmed the rain. There was also hail in the rain.

"Me and my dad were waiting to go outside, so we thought we would just sit and wait near the doors when all of a sudden the water started coming through the doors. It happened within a few minutes.

"I went in through the entrance and then just after I stopped filming, the staff came down and started mopping it up and pushing the water out through the doors. By 2.45pm it had almost stopped and we were able to walk back out again. I live on the hill in Cilfynydd, but there were a lot of big puddles through that area on the low lying roads near the roundabout."

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said, “One of the entrances to our Pontypridd store was briefly affected by the extreme weather this morning. This was quickly cleared and the store remained open as usual.”

Flooding was also reported in Llanharan. Hope Rescue dog centre on Llanharry Road issued an urgent appeal after water entered the kennels. A post on the centre's Facebook Page said: "URGENT TOWEL APPEAL - FLOODING AT THE RESCUE CENTRE. Unfortunately we experienced some flooding in the horrendous downpour we had this afternoon.

"All the dogs are safe and dry and were quickly moved to the inside of their kennel with a tasty treat. But as the water subsides we need to re-clean, dry and replace bedding in each kennel and are now running very low on towels especially, and blankets.

If you are able to drop towels or blankets off at the center today or over the next few days we would be hugely grateful. We have a donation bin outside of reception and our gates will be open until 8pm today. The centre address is Hope Rescue, Cynllan Lodge, Old Llanharry Rd, Llanharan, CF72 9NH. Thank you from a very wet Hope team!"

The areas in Wales covered by the warning are Blaenau Gwent; ;Bridgend; Caerphilly; Cardiff; Carmarthenshire; Ceredigion; Gwynedd; Merthyr Tydfil; Monmouthshire; Neath Port Talbot; Newport; Powys; Rhondda Cynon Taf; Swansea; Torfaen; Vale of Glamorgan.