Storm Claudia: How Our Teams Kept the Vale Safe

20 November 2025

Over the weekend, Storm Claudia brought heavy rain and the risk of flooding to the Vale of Glamorgan. Thanks to the quick thinking and professional response from staff, the Council was well-prepared to support our communities.

We’d like to start by saying a huge thank you to all colleagues who were involved in monitoring, planning, or standing by to respond.

Preparations began on Thursday when the Council received a weather update from the Met Office, which was shared by Emergency Planning with relevant departments. This triggered a multi-agency Tactical Coordination Group meeting with external partners, followed by an internal Tactical Coordination Group to discuss potential impacts and actions.

On Friday morning, another internal meeting brought together Emergency Planning, Highways, Flood Team, C1V, Street Cleaning, Communications, and other key teams to make sure everyone was ready.

A decision was made on Friday to close St Richard Gwyn Catholic School in Barry early due to the increased flooding-risk, and some localised flooding was subsequently reported on the grounds of the school.

Following the storm, St Richard Gwyn Headteacher David Blackwell, thanked Council staff for the advance warning of potential flooding and following closure of the school, which helped minimise disruption to students who would’ve otherwise been travelling during the height of the storm.

Elsewhere, colleagues in property went above and beyond last Friday evening when the car park at Penarth Leisure Centre began to flood.
After receiving a call advising that water was rapidly rising and service users were having difficulty exiting the leisure centre, Building Surveyor Paul Cook took it upon himself to travel down to the site to manually clear out the drains with a spade – preventing further flooding which could have caused damage inside the building.

Over the weekend, we saw only a few isolated flooding incidents, most of which were minor, with a total of 36 flooding-related calls. 
Thankfully, river levels in the Cadoxton - which had posed a risk to nearby properties - began to drop - and the forecast suggested improving weather. With no further adverse conditions expected, our incident response operations were stood down, and normal duty officer procedures resumed.

No homes have been reported as affected by the storm and only one business in Penarth reported flooding.

These incidents will be reviewed to capture any lessons and help strengthen our response for the future.

Addressing colleagues following the storm, Chief Executive Rob Thomas, said: “I want to thank everyone who played a part in our response to Storm Claudia. Your professionalism, quick thinking, and calm approach helped keep our communities safe. While the impact of the storm was thankfully limited, being fully prepared was essential.

“A special thank you goes to Debbie Spargo and Carl Culverwell for their work within the Emergency Response team. Their efforts - alongside those of many others across the Council - ensured we were ready for whatever the storm brought. Of course there are many others who selflessly offered their time and resources to help for the storm – but please know that your hard work has not gone unnoticed. Diolch o galon i chi gyd”.