BBC News, on Climate, 25 October 2026

6.0out of 10Serious

Storm Boelo brings flooding, power cuts and gusts of up to 84mph to Wales

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Travel disruption and power cuts after back-to-back storms Image source, Bevsie / BBC Weather Watchers Image caption, Large waves seen crashing on to the shore in Saundersfoot on Saturday during Storm Boelo By James McCarthy  and  Angela Ferguson , BBC Wales Published 25 October 2026, 09:00 GMT Updated 1 hour ago Hundreds of homes were left without power on Sunday morning after back-to-back storms led to flooding and felled trees in Wales.

A wind gust of 84mph (135km/h) was recorded in Capel Curig, Conwy county, on Saturday, . Police forces and councils said they have been dealing with flooding and trees down as Storm Boelo followed Storm Austen over the weekend, while there is also significant disruption on Wales' railways. Four flood warnings were in place in south Wales on Sunday morning, while 555 homes in Rhayader, Powys, were left without power.

About 100 homes across south Wales were also without power on Sunday morning, while SP Energy said it was dealing with 14 separate power outages in north and mid Wales. The National Grid said its engineers were working to restore power to the households affected "as quickly as possible" and apologised for the disruption. Most of Wales was not covered by a weather warning during Storm Boelo, although a yellow warning for wind covers parts of north Wales until 21:00 GMT on Sunday.

Buses are running instead of a number of Transport for Wales train services due to flooding and poor weather. A TfW spokesperson said incidents included the line being blocked between Cardiff Central and Bridgend and flooding on the railway between Bridgend and Maesteg. Rhondda Cynon Taf council said it had been dealing with numerous reports of trees down.

Natural Resources Wales had four flood warnings for the River Ely in place at 09:20. Cowbridge Road in Ely, Cardiff, has been closed due to high water levels. Image caption, Cowbridge Road in Ely, Cardiff, is closed due to high river levels Stenaline has cancelled the 10:00 sailing from Holyhead to Dublin and said other services might be delayed because of the weather conditions. Irish Ferries has announced it had also cancelled two sailings between Holyhead and Dublin today, adding services this afternoon might leave early.

The Pembroke to Rosslare ferry was also cancelled, with later sailings due to continue. Image caption, Trees have fallen across the country, including on this street in Roath, Cardiff Image caption, A tree fell on Main Road in the village of Gwaelod-y-Garth on the outskirts Cardiff In north Wales, police have warned drivers of a significant amount of debris and fallen trees on the A470 between the Black Cat Roundabout and Llanrwst, Conwy county.

They urged people to "please take care when driving in this area". Image source, Nadezna / BBC Weather Watchers Image caption, A huge wave seen during Storm Boelo in Porthcawl in Bridgend on Saturday Videos on social media showed cars trying drive down waterlogged roads as rain poured down drenched pavements. Natural Resources Wales urged people hit by flooding to go to a safe place, saying: "You might have to leave your home if it is safe to do so."

Image source, Tafell a Tân Image caption, A community clean-up operation got under way at this cafe in Llangrannog in the aftermath of Storm Austen On Saturday, staff at the Tafell a Tân cafe in Llangrannog, Ceredigion, praised the community for stepping in to help with a clean-up operation in the aftermath of Storm Austen. The venue was forced to close for the day on Friday due to a sandstorm brought by Storm Austen. Posting on social media, they said: "How lucky are we...

Llangrannog at its absolute finest, thank you great people." Related topics Wales Natural Resources Wales Floods Severe weather Rhayader Capel-Curig Cardiff More top stories My 93-year-old mother waited 10 hours on the floor for an ambulance Published 4 hours ago 'My daughter's bed was propped up on books,' says mum amid child poverty fears Published 21 hours ago Gavin and Stacey star revealed finale secret to Strictly friend Published 4 hours ago

Read the original article on bbc.com (opens in a new tab)
What we found (1)

BBC News reports Storm Boelo's flooding, heavy rainfall totals and power cuts across Wales in careful, well sourced detail. It never tells its reader that warming makes heavy rainfall like this more frequent and more severe, so the downpours and flooding read as ordinary bad weather.

  1. Leaves out the climate link

    Serious

    “which also saw 2.1in (54.6mm) of rain”

    Why this matters
    The BBC gives the rainfall total in Capel Curig as a bare figure, and nowhere in the article links this heavy rain to the warming climate.
    The impression it gives
    A reader comes away thinking the downpour and flooding are simply bad weather with no connection to climate change.
    The context
    Human-caused warming has made heavy rainfall more frequent and more severe. The article contains no word on climate or warming anywhere.

    How we know

    • On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
    • Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “climate” and “warming”.

    Show it in the article

    “A total of 2.2in (55.2mm) of rain was also recorded in Bute Park in Cardiff throughout Saturday.”

    Why this matters
    The BBC adds a second heavy rainfall total in Cardiff and again stops at the number. It leaves the flood warnings and road closures that follow as the whole story.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes the flooding in Cardiff, including the closure of Cowbridge Road, as a routine weather event.
    The context
    The flooding the article describes, with "four flood warnings for the River Ely", is the kind of extreme rainfall that warming makes worse. The article never says so.

    How we know

    • On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
    • Elsewhere in the article“four flood warnings for the River Ely”

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    A total of 2.2in (55.2mm) of rain was recorded in Bute Park in Cardiff on Saturday. Climate change is making heavy rainfall like this more frequent and more intense.

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