December 2012
Weeks of continuous rain have raised the level of the Wye in Penallt, if not to record levels, at least to the highest levels for some time. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, the Environment Agency issued a flood warning for Monmouth quoting that “The level at Monmouth was 4.6 metres (at 1230 pm) and rising. A peak level of between 5.2 and 5.3 metres is expected to occur overnight”.
The slideshow below is of photographs taken on and near the Penallt Viaduct at about 3pm on Christmas Eve, when the river level was still rising. It seemed that The Boat Inn would be shortly cut off by road. At the same time, the Wye had burst its banks by Bigsweir Bridge and the Whitebrook road was flooded by the river to a depth of about a foot.
From The Monmouthshire Beacon 2 Jan 2013
By the evening (Christmas Eve) the water was over the road and the pub (The Boat Inn) was unreachable by anyone who was not wearing wellies. After last orders, locals who had sensibly worn wellies for their pre-Christmas tipple were recruited to give fireman’s lifts to those who did not want to go home with wet feet and ruined shoes.
Rubbing a stiff neck from all the carrying, Myles Evill, one of the chivalrous welly wearers, said: “I haven’t seen the river that high in years.”