William tells villagers 'holistic' approach is needed to tackle flooding

The Prince of Wales has said a "holistic" approach is needed to tackle severe flooding, as a small Welsh village prepares for the upcoming storm season.

Residents in Skenfrith, Monmouthshire, have faced four major floods in the past six years.

An extreme flood last winter had a devastating impact on the village, when the River Monnow burst its banks after Storm Claudia brought a month's worth of rain in just 24 hours to parts of England and Wales.

Prince William was visiting the area to learn about how communities have been affected by recent flooding and what measures were being taken by local authorities and other agencies to mitigate future incidents.

Over the years, families have reported that their homes and possessions had been destroyed by the floods. In 2019, about 25 homes were evacuated in the village following flooding and a power cut after heavy rain.

On Thursday, the prince spoke to villagers Rod and Helen Wyatt at their garden gate and was told how the water almost topped gravestones in a cemetery opposite during a flood.

The couple have now tiled the ground floor of their house and live with the threat of further flooding.

Rod, who has lived in his home for 10 years, made light of the experience when he told Prince William that, at one point, "we had to give up really, we got two bottles of Prosecco and went to watch Strictly upstairs".

The prince replied: "It must be so demoralising for you now, the worry each year you've got to go through that again, potentially, is becoming more frequent.

"They keep talking about a one in 50-year event, it doesn't make sense anymore.

"It might be in the researching and scientific point of view - it's happening every year now, it's mad.

"So, it's trying to understand how we can do a better holistic view of the whole catchment area, so we're dealing with the whole problem."

He listed a number of ideas, from "slowing the water down" using farming landscaping remedies, to tree planting and better monitoring "so we know when things might be getting worse".