RESIDENTS and businesses in Powys are being warned to expect more thunderstorms and heavy rain after a flash flooding hit Welshpool.

Thunderstorms on Monday caused disruption in the town, with video showing Church Street and Berriew Road under water.

Now the Met Office has warned that more wet weather is on the way this afternoon.

Welshpool Town Mayor, Councillor Steve Kaye, says that flash flooding in Welshpool could be tackled if there were more Powys County Council staff to unblock drains.

“When you get a flood around here, there’s just not enough staff from Powys County Council to unblock the drains – the staff they have cover the whole of mid Wales,” he said.

“Obviously it’s difficult to tell when a drain is going to be blocked, but if I see one I’ll tell council staff who sort it straight away.

“Small businesses in Welshpool are already suffering, we don’t need anything else to hold them back. We need to help the industry.”

The Met Office has warned that from this afternoon thunderstorms may lead to flooding, with lightning strikes, hail or strong winds possible.

There may also be some disruptions to public transport, as well as power cuts across the county with the warning expected to in place until tomorrow evening (Wednesday).

One of the businesses affected by yesterday’s flood was Splash Plumbing and Heating in Church Street.

Owner Chris Gries said the morning downpour took about 10 minutes to fill the street before the staff were forced to fight the water out and prevent further flooding with sandbags.

“It’s lucky we were there – three months we’ve been closed but had decent weather, as soon as we open we’re greeted with this, but luckily we were there to prevent it and let other businesses in Church Street know about the floods,” he said.

“This is the third time we’ve been flooded in the seven years we’ve been there. I’m not sure if it’s to do with the drains since they altered the roads, but something needs to be sorted.”

With more bad weather on the way, Chris has prepared the business for any further flooding.

“We’ve got plenty of sandbags in, which is about all we can do,” Chris added.

“It’s not great for our business at the moment, it’s not what we need.”

Welshpool councillor Graham Breeze said that after the coronavirus outbreak, flooding is the "last thing businesses need".

“The town experienced two such heavy downpours, I had flooding at home,” he said.

“When I was aware of the flooding I contacted Powys County Council who investigated the area. The officers had a look yesterday (Monday) at what is causing the issues so we can hopefully fix the issues to save future flooding.

“There was an upheaval to the road a few months ago, so it may be a case of getting engineers back. It could be an enormous amount of work.

“I know it’s the last thing that businesses need; hopefully they won’t have to experience flooding again."

Meanwhile a broken manhole cover at Maesowen saw sewer waste flood the nearby streets on Monday.

Works were carried out during the evening to fix the leak following reports from residents.