Wales breaking news plus weather and traffic updates (Tuesday, October 14)

Man, 85, hospitalised in hit and run

An 85-year-old man is in hospital after being hit by a van on a retirement housing complex. A white van hit a pedestrian on Monday, October 6, on the Summerhill House complex in Newport and failed to stop, according to Gwent Police.

The pedestrian was taken to hospital with injuries, where he remains in a stable condition. Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the collision, which occurred between 4pm and 5pm, to contact them to assist with their enquiries.

A spokesperson for Gwent Police said: “We’re appealing for information to a road traffic collision in the Newport area. It happened on Monday, October 6, between 4pm – 5pm, on the Summerhill House complex, off Albert Avenue.

“It involved a pedestrian and a white van. The pedestrian, an 85-year-old man, was taken to hospital with injuries where he remains in a stable condition. The van failed to stop. We want to speak to any witnesses, or anyone who has dashcam footage, of a white van entering or leaving the complex onto Albert Avenue between the hours of 4pm-5pm.”

The force can be contacted by calling 101, online or by sending a DM to their Facebook or X page. Reference 2500319973 should be quoted.

Councils warn of massive tax rises or 13,000 job losses

Welsh councils have said that if the Welsh Government’s budget goes ahead as has been announced it could result in council tax having to rise by 20% or more than 13,000 council jobs having to be cut across Wales.

The Welsh Government has today published its draft budget. Mark Drakeford, Wales’ finance minister, has said the current draft is a budget which is effectively identical to last year’s but with a 2% rise to allow for inflation.

However, the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), which represents all Wales’ 22 councils, said the settlement they would receive under his proposal would have a crippling impact and “to cover the expected gap, councils may have to raise council tax by 20% or cut thousands of jobs”. You can read what they’ve said in full here.

Congestion at Western Avenue, Cardiff due to broken down bus

There is slow traffic eastbound at the A48 Western Avenue in Cardiff due to a broken down bus at Mynachdy Road (University Hospital of Wales). All lanes are open but traffic is slow according to monitoring systems Inrix and the AA.

‘Thousands of jobs’ at risk if Welsh budget fails to pass

Thousands of public sector jobs would be “immediately” at risk if the Welsh Government budget fails to pass in the Senedd. Wales’ finance minister Mark Drakeford on Tuesday laid out crucial Welsh Government’s budget plans for the next financial year.

However both Lee Waters, the Llanelli Labour MS, and Plaid Cymru MS Heledd Fychan were among those who warned that if the budget does not pass there would immediately be cuts to jobs, particularly in Welsh councils. Mr Waters told the Senedd: “This is not about harming the government but harming public services.

“Not being able to pass a budget – what does that mean? As well as being embarrassing for the Senedd the failure of the Senedd to do its job [is] a very real damage, I think, to the devolution project.

“If we cannot do a job we were elected to do what does that say about us as a serious place tasked with making decisions for Wales?” You can recap in full here.

M4 Prince of Wales bridge to be partially closed overnight

The M4 Prince of Wales bridge is set to close eastbound overnight on Wednesday for urgent maintenance. The eastbound side of the bridge will be closed on Wednesday, October 15 from 10pm until 6am on Thursday while restrictions for lorries remains in place at the neighbouring M48 Severn bridge.

National Highways said a safety critical defect had been found on the eastbound carriageway this week and urgent repair work would be needed. The bridge will be closed eastbound between junctions 23 and 22.

Cars and light vehicles will be diverted via the Severn bridge while heavy goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes will have to follow a lengthy diversion.

The diversion is from junction 24 of the M4 along the A449, A40 and M50 to join the M5 at junction 8 until junction 15 to then rejoin the M4 at Almondsbury interchange.

Cars smashed up in Llanelli street in late-night attack

Police are investigating after a number of parked cars had their windows and windscreens smashed in a residential area of Carmarthenshire. The vandalism took place late at night in a lane just off Tunnel Road in the centre of Llanelli.

According to one local resident, three cars were “severely damaged” in what she described as a “deliberate attack”. All three cars had their windows and windscreens smashed and were parked within close proximity to each other in a lane which connects Tunnel Road and Regalia Terrace.

Police were called to the residential area at around 11pm on Friday, October 10. A spokeswoman for Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed: “We received a report at around 11pm on Friday, October 10, that three cars had been damaged on Tunnel Road in Llanelli. Enquiries are ongoing.”

Anyone with any information about the vandalism is asked to contact Dyfed-Powys Police by calling 101.

Update from Vodafone after huge network outage

Vodafone have provided an update after thousands of users reported a major outage yesterday. A spokesperson for the company said:

“On Monday afternoon, for a short time, the Vodafone network had an issue affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services. This was triggered by a non-malicious software issue with one of our vendor partners which has now been resolved, and the network has fully recovered. We apologise for any inconvenience this caused our customers.”

Passengers facing disruption on rail services in south Wales

Due to a tree blocking the railway between Pontyclun and Cardiff Central the line towards Swansea is blocked. According to Transport for Wales, services running through these stations will be cancelled or delayed by up to 60 minutes.

Man dies as car flips onto its roof in crash in Welsh village

A man has died after a car was found on its roof on an unclassified road on Anglesey. Emergency services were called to the scene in the village of Llanddona at 6.30pm on Monday evening (October 13).

The male driver of the blue Audi A3 which was found on its roof was pronounced dead at the scene, North Wales Police confirmed. Officers believe that the man suffered a medical episode and that no other vehicle was involved in the incident. Read more here

Police pull over child driving car on Welsh road

Police in Carmarthenshire pulled over a car going for a Sunday afternoon spin and had a shock when they realised the driver was only 15. Officers stopped the car on Sunday, October 12, while it was being driven along a rural A-road between the town of Llandovery and the village of Llangadog.

To their amazement the driver was 15 years of age and he was being given a driving lesson. The car was seized by police and both the teenage driver and the older person accompanying him in the passenger seat were both reported for driving offences. Full story here

Mums of two boys whose deaths led to Ely riots speak out

Statements from the mothers of the two boys who died in an e-bike crash in Ely before the riots began in May 2023 were read to the jury today in support of one of the defendants.

Nadine Evans, the mother of Harvey Evans, 15, and Bellinda Sullivan, mother of Kyrees Sullivan, 16, both spoke out in support of Jayden Baston, who threw a piece of plasterboard at police. They described him as a “polite, hardworking and reliable young man” and said he had great respect and manners and was always respectful.

Baston, 21, is one of eight people on trial at Cardiff Crown Court accused of rioting after the deaths of the two teenaters on May 22, 2023, while riding an electric bike on Snowden Road, Ely. Follow our live updates from the trial here

Swansea man jailed

A man from Swansea has been jailed after he pleaded guilty to the rape and sexual assault of a male victim.

41-year-old Johnathan Jones, from Sketty, took his vulnerable victim into a pub toilet cubicle and when the victim tried to push him away, Jones attempted to offer the victim money in order to continue.

After the victim reported this to police, Jones was arrested the same day.

After initially claiming the sexual activity was consensual, Jones pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, as well as further counts of sexual assault and assault by penetration.

Jones has been handed a custodial term of nine years with an extension period of four years, meaning a total custodial period of 13 years.

Detective Constable Rabaiotti said:“Johnathan Jones took advantage of a vulnerable man in the most depraved way.

“This was not the first time Jones has committed a sexual offence. This was a pattern of behaviour following previous offences, but this case was aggravated by the fact Jones knew the victim was particularly vulnerable.

“I commend the victim on their bravery in coming forward. This was a difficult investigation, but the result is that a very dangerous man has been removed from the streets for a significant period of time.”

Delays expected on M48

There is lane closed due to broken down vehicle on the M48 Westbound from J1 A403 (Aust) to J2 A466 Wye Valley Link Road (Chepstow). Traffic is currently coping well according to Inrix but delays are expected.

Traffic in Cardiff due to broken down vehicle

One lane is blocked and there is slow traffic due to a broken down vehicle on the A4161 Duke Street Eastbound in Cardiff between A4119 Lower Cathedral Road and St John Street.

Welsh Conservatives offer budget deal to Labour – if they do one thing

The Welsh Conservatives say it would look at doing a budget deal with the Welsh Government if they agree to scrap the Welsh equivalent of stamp duty. The budget for 2026-27 begins today (October 14) with a draft version being published.

As Labour doesn’t have more than half the votes in the Senedd it needs the help of opposition politicians and the Conservatives have laid out the conditions of any support from them. The pair have never worked together on budget deals previously.

Read more here

Patients return to Princess of Wales Hospital after critical incident sees huge disruption

In October 2024 a critical incident was declared at the Princess of Wales hospital after “more serious internal long-term damage” was found following a serious leak. It saw multiple wards damaged throughout the Bridgend-based hospital. Now, after a year and £30 million investment, the work to replace the roof of the original building has been completed.

Rainwater entered the site in September last year, causing 10 wards and eight theatre spaces to be lost as well as the intensive care unit (ICU) needing to relocate. Patients were forced to move from the hospital due to the extensive damage and immense pressure was put on the health board.

Now, the majority of the services forced to cease operating have returned to the hospital with ophthalmology and maternity and neonatal services opening in January. Main theatres, endoscopy and the eye unit have also reopened. Full story here

Secondary school goes into lockdown after threat from pupil

A Welsh secondary school was placed into lockdown on Monday afternoon (October 13) in response to a pupil making a serious “claim”. Officers from South Wales Police were called to Mary Immaculate High School in in Caerau, Cardiff, after the threat and lockdown procedures were implemented.

The school, which has around 800 pupils, said a decision was taken to evacuate “as a precaution”. However, the claim made by the pupil was found to be false and the evacuation was lifted.

Full story here

M4 live updates as crash blocks Severn Bridge

The M48 has been completely blocked near the Severn Bridges due to a collision between involving a car and a motorcycle ahead of rush hour. The Severn Bridges account on X confirmed the carriageway in Gloucestershire is closed in the westbound direction between the M4 and J1 at Aust.

The post said: “More information to follow, thank you for your patience.” Follow our live updates on this incident here

Cost to repair huge sinkhole totals over £4m

Work to fix the sinkhole that opened up on a Merthyr street and made headlines around the world has cost more than £4m. Around 30 homes were evacuated on December 1 last year when the void appeared at Nant Morlais, Pant, and engulfed part of a road, a pavement and a huge chunk of the driveway belonging to the family of Love Island star Liam Reardon during Storm Bert.

It hit national headlines including Fox News in America which described it as large enough to swallow double decker buses. Over several days the sinkhole kept growing and reached a huge size of 33ft wide and over 40ft deep.

Work to fix the crater, described as the “biggest engineering job in south Wales”, is coming to an end and has cost the council £4m.

Read the latest update here

Wales v Belgium match halted as giant rat invades pitch

Wales v Belgium was temporarily halted last night after a rat invaded the pitch at Cardiff City Stadium. Craig Bellamy’s side were trailing 2-1 in the 66th minute when the referee stopped the game to tend to a head injury to one of the Belgian players.

But before play could resume again, the players were made to wait for a rodent to make its way off the pitch.

Substitute Brennan Johnson had to usher the rat off the pitch as it ran towards a camera operator on the touchline.

Full story here

Today’s weather forecast

Often cloudy this week but some sunshine in places. Here is the full Met Office forecast for Wales today:

A cloudy day for many with intermittent drizzle in some eastern areas first thing. Probably sunnier in the west once any early fog patches have cleared. Generally feeling cool but pleasantly warm in any sunshine. Maximum temperature 16 °C.

Remaining similar overnight with cloudy skies prevailing for most and the best chance of clearer spells in the west. Turning chilly where skies remain clear, otherwise staying relatively mild. Minimum temperature 5 °C.

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