12/02/2014 BBC Wales Today

heading our way and wet and windy again. That is all from

Welcome to Wales Today. Tonight, severe gales battering the country.

Wales is offered military help as it's hit by winds of over 100mph.

I've never, ever seen anything like it. I'm over 60 and been in business

Cricieth for years. This is the worst period I've seen.

Trees are down. Nearly 80,000 homes are without power. Schools have

closed. There's been damage to property and major disruption to

road and rail services. Here in Pembrokeshire this evening,

winds are finally starting to die down after causing so much

destruction throughout the day. Also tonight: The police will

investigate payments to the chief executives of Carmarthenshire and

Pembrokeshire councils. They're enjoying a quiet pint but

charities warns of a "hidden drinking problem" among the over

60s. And protests 50 years ago against

closing a casualty unit. Now another shake-up of emergency care will be

decided on tomorrow. Good evening. Wales has been offered military help

as winds reaching more than 100mph have been battering our coastline.

The offer was made after a meeting of the UK's emergency Cobra

committee in London. Worst hit has been West and North West Wales. At

Aberdaron a gust of wind measuring 108mph was recorded earlier. The Met

office has issued a rare red warning about high winds saying lives could

be in danger. Across the country 90,000 homes have been without

power. Part of the M4 at Briton Ferry had to be shut to traffic. The

advice tonight is to stay indoors. We hope to speak to reporters across

the country in just a moment but first Roger Pinney on the latest

storm in this never-ending run of bad weather.

From space you can see the storm in the satellite image the distinctive

curl off a deep depression. Here in Wales it has meant this. All along

our western coast from the tip of Anglesey to Pembrokeshire, raging,

foaming seas and howling winds. Little window that the Coast Guard

should issue this morning. We have alerted shipping in the area and we

are advising people not to play on the coastline. They are impressive

but just to be aware there has been a lot of debris inside the way. You

could get quite easily caught out. The storm has brought its

destruction from Holyhead, most services were cancelled. Schools

finished early and many rail services have been cancelled or

delayed. The Britannia Bridge linking Anglesey to the mainland was

closed after a lorry overturned. Power of workers have been at full

stretch. Thousands of homes have been without electricity. Across

Wales, trees have an approved it even in Cardiff well away from the

full force of the storm. If it had been a real busy time of it would

have been a catastrophe. This road can be backlogged with cars from top

to bottom when everyone is leaving the hospital. Have past four to five

o'clock, it could be nose to tail on the road. This is village Mac as the

storm raced up the Irish Sea. -- the Which?.

I have never, ever seen anything like it. I have been here in

business for 30 years. This is the worst period I have ever seen. The

strength of the wind seemed to build and build. Here in Anglesey you

struggle to stand up and the coast guard has just told me that the wind

speed of Holyhead breakwater is top name 70 knots, that is storm forced

12. Hurricane speed. The ghost and much greater than that. One man who

knows what it is like at sea and hurricane force winds is Brian

Thompson, coxswain of the Holyhead lifeboat. It wasn't pleasant. I can

only describe it like being inside the washing machine, getting flung

around violently. Huge forces. We have seen at the last few days what

they have done to the land, imagine what they can do to a vessel. This

has been debated batten down the hatches, one the seemingly -- and

one in the seemingly string of them. Cemlyn Davies is at Wisemans Bridge

near Saundersfoot in Pembrokeshire. Give us a flavour of what you have

been coming across. Lots of deception. Thankfully, the winds are

now starting to die down here in South Pembrokeshire. As the manager

of the pub was telling me area, conditions here today have been as

bad as he has ever seen them. I have seen Rose closed, schools close,

people without power. I went to one fuel station and the owner there

wasn't able to supply any fuel because he did not have an

electricity to operate the pumps. I was walking around with torchlight

to guide me. Plenty of deception, people telling me they have never

seen conditions like these before. Very difficult for people all there.

Tell me how people are coping. They are remaining up beat. I spoke to

one person who was without power, he had been without power all

afternoon. He was grateful and counted himself or to its because he

was not facing the same difficulties as people in other parts of the UK.

But at the same time, they are bracing themselves for worse to

come. We know things may be better tomorrow but again another area of

low pressure to come towards the end of the week. Thank you very much.

Sophie Long is in village Mac. You can probably hear the angry

waves by bit. We are watching them smash into the road. Several homes

are already without power and that is a similar case across the

country. We made our way here this afternoon and it drove through whole

villages that had already lost power. Some 80,000 homes across

Wales have no power. Suppliers saying they are working very hard to

reconnect people are sinners they can. As we drove through Wales we

came across six roads that had been blocked by fallen trees, two were

completely impassable. Train lines will also be enclosed. The peak bowl

here will find things getting worse. -- the people here. We are expecting

high tide here at seven o'clock this evening. The danger is those winds

speeds recorded will coincide with high water and you are going to get

waves again than these. Thank you very much.

We'll have a full weather forecast later in the programme with Behnaz.

And you can get all the latest information on the storms, on BBC

Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and online at bbc.co.uk/walesnews.

Charities working with people who abuse alcohol say they're

it's a bit carried out by the Gloucestershire Constabulary. Our

political editor is here. What are the police going to be looking at?

It is the decision to allow Mark James, the chief executive of

Carmarthenshire Council and the Chief Executive Pembrokeshire

Council opt out of the pension scheme in order to avoid tax

payments. The money went into their salaries. The recent reports from

the Wales Audit Office said those payments were unlawful. In other

words, they said it was not within the legal power of the local

authority to allow them to do that. In a set list reports, financial

protection given to Mark James in a libel action was also considered

unlawful. We knew Dyfed Powys Police were in contact with the CPS and to

night confirmation that a formal police investigation will get

underway to work out whether anything criminal has occurred. It

would be carried out by the Gloucestershire Constabulary because

of the close working links that exist tween divot hours and the two

local authority. -- Dyfed Powys Police. This has been a fast moving

story. We have had robust defence by Carmarthenshire Council. They were

responding to the legal advice available at the time. It comes at a

sensitive moment for councils and councils paying. A committee of

Assembly Members tomorrow will be discussing this very matter within

the public sector. Just before I came on air, the leader of

Carmarthenshire Council said he was going to commission an external

review by the Welsh local government Association into what has gone on.

Charities working with people who abuse alcohol say they are concerned

about the drinking habits of the over 60s in Wales. Alcohol Concern

Cymru and The Welsh Council on Alcohol say drinking problems in

that age range is a largely hidden and under-researched issue. Paul

Heaney reports. Great Preston from Cwmbran can

remember the day when he could drink without any problems. But after his

wife passed away, his drinking increased, his son eventually found

him collapsed at home. If Meissen had not come that day and would have

died in this chair. -- if my son. I can't do that. I can't go back. He

said his habit crept up on him. It was easy for me to just reach out to

the table and pick up the glass of whiskey and have a drink. When that

was empty I would totally out of the kitchen and get another one. It was

a habit. Ray doesn't find himself in a pub but he has come to one with me

today to ask older drinkers if they feel alcohol abuse is as much a

problem for them as it is for younger people. This club alone, we

have 85% are elderly people. We have no problems with them. They all seem

to conduct themselves tidily. That is the amount of drink they have

what they do after it. Most old people keep things close to their

chest. They don't bother... They won't tell you if there is anything

wrong. Most recent quarterly figures show 17% more people who were over

the age of six week sought help with a drinking problem last year

compared to the year before. One charity says it is a hidden but

growing problem. Maybe these older people are just emerging out of the

bottle now. We are only now becoming aware of the problem that may have

in net for some considerable time. Gray has stayed sober than three

years for his family. He says people his age should not be afraid to ask

for help. It's OK years to realise he had a problem but wants others to

realise from his stakes. -- mistakes.

A former boss of children's homes in North Wales has pleaded not guilty

to 39 counts of historical sexual abuse. John Allen, who's 72,

appeared today at Caernarfon Crown Court. The judge says his trial is

likely to take place in the autumn. Appeal Court judges in Cardiff have

adjourned a hearing in the case of two men convicted of killing

teenager, Amir Siddiqi, in 2010. Ben Hope and Jason Richards were

sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in jail for the murder of the

17-year-old, who was stabbed to death on his doorstep in Cardiff.

It's a year since a meat processing plant near Aberystwyth was raided by

police investigating the mislabelling of meat products. It

came during the height of the horse meat scandal. While consumer

confidence appears to have recovered, the body responsible for

promoting red meat in Wales is warning the industry can't afford a

repeat of the scandal. Charlotte Dubenskij reports. It has been a

good 12 months for those butchers shop in Aberystwyth. In the wake of

the horse meat scandal, shoppers flocked here to buy produce a were

confident of. People were coming back to the butchers to buy their

meats. They were happier to buy from us because we sourced local animals.

We processed them ourselves. A few miles away is the former site of

Farmbox Meats. This time last year police were investigating the

mislabelling of meat products and the plant was closed. It was allowed

to reopen a few months later but the is this has since it should down.

The owner of Farmbox Meats has always denied any cross

contamination of products. So far the allegations have not been

proven. He remains on bail on fraud charges. As the horse meat scandal

is developed, thousands of products were recalled across the UK and many

were tested and found to contain horse DNA. Meat sales dipped. Now

meets promotion Wales says the industry has recovered well but it

has this warning. We can't afford to have this happen again. It

undermines the most important people we have in our industry which are

the consuming public. The can't afford for that to happen again and

the sieges now are in place, testing procedures are in place to ensure

what people buy is what it says on the label. Some of that testing

takes place at this Cardiff laboratory. The methods we have in

place will able to give as 100% confidence about was horse meat

resident in meat or not. Those scientific processes mean we can

continue to catch the fraudsters. A final report into the scandal for

the UK Government is due to be published this spring.

Still to come tonight: Could this be the save that keeps Cardiff City's

survival hopes alive? And after a violent storm we can look forward to

a brief respite tomorrow. Join me later for a full weather forecast.

Health boards across south Wales will decide tomorrow whether or not

to give the go-ahead to a major shake-up of the way some specialist

hospital care is delivered. The plan will involve centralising high level

emergency care. That could see The Royal Glamorgan Hospital in

Llantrisant stop treating serious A cases. In the Rhondda there's

concern that patients will have to travel further afield, a concern

that has echoes in the past. Matt Murray reports.

Llwynypia was home to the largest hospital in the Rhondda. It provided

medical care for tens of thousands of people in the area. When a

decision was made in the 1960s to close its emergency accident unit,

protests took place with people going as far as chaining themselves

to be hospital gate. Where those gates once stood, it is just rubble

and derelict buildings. Local councillor Sylvia Jones took me to

the site. She campaigned to keep services then the 60s and fears the

same thing is happening again. Everything goes from the Valleys.

All the wealth has gone. The facilities are going out of the

Valleys as well. We had a fight to keep their new hospital here. That

took over 40 years for us to get it. I hope it will take another 40 years

to be able to get what we need now. This hospital only has limited hot

-- services and deals with minor injuries. More serious injuries are

treated eight miles down the road. But hospital Mark would stop

treating serious A cases as well as losing it specialist baby unit.

The Welsh Government says at the moment services are spread too

thinly at hospitals across the region. Tomorrow's decision has been

a long time coming but wind the clock back a year and the message

from the First Minister was clear. As to be a change in the health

service for it to be safe for the future. I am not going to city and

say it does not matter. I am not going to do that. The possible

changes are great concern especially for many parents. Here there is a

fear that losing accident and emergency from hospital Mac could

mean driving for half an hour. I was already worried about her sitting in

a car on the way down. It was a bit more stressful taking them to

Bridgend. We would have to travel over mountain rose to get to those

hospitals. It is far enough to go as it is. The next bag staying would go

there. Those changes have in talks about even before these children

will warn. Tomorrow's decision will have a profound affect on how

services are delivered across South Wales.

And we'll bring you the details of those plans in our programmes at

lunchtime and at 6.30pm tomorrow. An hourly rail service between

Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury could be set up if the plans are approved by

the Transport minister. Edwina Hart has been handed a report by the

group that reviews improvements to Cambrian main and coastal lines in

mid Wales. The Welsh Government said the minister would now consider the

recommendations. The body responsible for protecting

buildings and monuments in Wales has been asked to consider making BBC

Wales' headquarters in Cardiff a listed building. BBC Wales is trying

to find a buyer for the site in Llandaff, as part of multi-million

pounds plans to move to a new purpose-built broadcasting base. BBC

Wales says it has "significant concerns" about CADW's plans.

European rugby is edging towards a peace deal after months of bitter

argument. A Six Nations meeting in Paris today agreed on a format for a

new European Cup next season. The Welsh Rugby Union and the Welsh

regions will now be involved in working on the finer details of the

plans over the coming weeks. Our sports news correspondent Gareth

Lewis is with us. What will they be working on?

It is out of their hands. Any deal hinges on the broadcasters, BT Sport

and sky. Marry the two together? Broadcasting aside, there are

movements on other issues. The regions and encouraged about the

balance of power buying the scenes as are the WRU. It is more money for

the regions, ?1 million extra each. The regions want to make sure that

is parity with funding to stop if the deal is done it reduces the

chances of a breakaway Anglo Welsh league. The regions has major

concerns about the money they are playing for in the current

tournament that is being withheld because of the insurgency that has

been rumbling on. Still a lot to be thrashed out. What would a new

tournaments looked like? Then off for fuel in the top tier. Six

English, six French, seven from the Pro12 including a play-off winner.

Qualification would be tighter. Only one Welsh side will qualify for the

top tier. You could end up with only one Welsh side in that top tier.

It'd improve the standards and competitiveness of April 12. -- of

the Pro12. On the pitch, there's been another

blow for Wales. Centre Scott Williams will miss the rest of the

Six Nations because he needs shoulder surgery. He got injured

tackling Brian O'Driscoll in Wales' defeat to Ireland on Saturday.

But better news for hooker Matthew Rees. He's been cleared to start

training with the Cardiff Blues again after treatment for testicular

cancer. The Wales and Lions forward been given the all-clear by

specialists at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff where he's been treated

since October. Football. Swansea City travel to

Stoke in the Premier League tonight hoping to ease their relegation

worries. Cardiff City are still second from bottom after they could

only manage a goal-less draw at home to Aston Villa. Here's our sports

reporter, Ashleigh Crowter. They wanted three points but only

got one. We almost missed out altogether. David Marshall's

stoppage time saved is being talked about as one of the greatest living

memory. He is the first keeper to make 100 saves in the Premier League

this season and his manager says he is an example the rest of the team

should follow as they battled to avoid relegation. We need the

players to stand up and be number one like David was tonight. Stephen

and Ben, fantastic performances. But Cardiff had no luck. In the first

half they hit the woodwork twice in the space of a minute. But after the

break it was Marshall and his back four will help them cling on for a

point. It has left them in trouble, second from bottom, three points

clear of safety. Fill fall and play Swansea this evening. Swansea city

will play. Everybody is scrapping for their lives to get that point.

Anybody slightly off the mark will lose it. We have got to make sure

that we are switched on and giving the best we can. If we do that we

can compete with any team. There was an immediate response to their new

manager in the Derby. The need that to continue.

So back to the weather. Those gale force winds causing major problems,

how long are they going to stay with us, Behnaz?

We have only got another few hours left. A red warning is in place of

parts of the North and West. That is valid until nine o'clock tonight. If

you can, try to avoid going out. For the rest of the country it is and

the warning -- it is an amber warning. It could be some structural

damage as those strong winds continue. These other peak gusts

from today. 96 mph across mumbles. They are continuing for the next few

hours but gradually as we go into the overnight period the wind was

that ease. We have a few showers but they will push south and east and

could see the potential for some icy patches. You need to take care on

untreated surfaces. Temperatures around the freezing mark for most of

us. There it is tomorrow, it is still blustery but nowhere near as

windy as it was today. We will season brightness and we had the

rain this morning, tomorrow it is a case of showers. A brief respite

tomorrow. There's showers could be wintry and temperatures ranging

between 6-7 Celsius. Is going to tomorrow night, gradually be will

clear away. Overnight Itchen read/write, lighter winds as well.

-- overnight it should we try. We could see a few problems with icy

patches. There are no warnings but there could be issued as we going to

tomorrow. All eyes on the next area of low pressure after Reef respite

on Thursday. We have got more wet and windy conditions heading our way

Friday. Friday will start off dry but who will see wet weather

spilling from the south and that comes very strong winds. At the

moment it is a warning for the rain. We could see further flooding has a

go through Friday. The rain will continue into Saturday, gradually

the wind and rain will ease on Saturday. Sunday, finally, we get

another break. We can look forward to try and brighter conditions on

Sunday. Distant reminder, tonight we still have the red warning across

parts of the north and west for the winter. This is a quick picture a

tree down. Hurricane force winds have been battling written causing

widespread disruption on roads and railways. The Prime minister has

pledged to compensate homes and businesses affected. The Welsh

Government is warning people to make only essential journeys in affected

areas. Winds have reached more than 100 mph, 80,000 homes remained

without power tonight. We have got technicians out there, engineers,

anywhere we can trying to carry out repairs. It is difficult under the

circumstances with the weather. We have got winds meant in West Wales

who can't get out of their vehicles. You can get all the latest

information on the storms on BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and online.

The news just then, the M4 at Briton Ferry has now reopened. There is

still severe congestion on the M4 but it has reopened.

And that is Wales Today. We'll keep you updated on the latest weather

situation in our updates and 8.00pm and 10.25pm tonight.