Prince William urges catch‑area plan as Skenfrith battles repeat floods

Prince William visited Skenfrith in Monmouthshire as the village prepared for the next storm season, stressing a catch‑area strategy to curb repeated flooding. The community has endured four major floods in the past six years, the worst occurring last winter when Storm Claudia dumped a month’s rainfall in a single day, causing the River Monnow to overflow. In 2019, heavy rain forced the evacuation of about 25 homes and triggered a power outage. During the visit the prince met local residents Rob and Helen Wyatt, who described how floodwater once rose close to the headstones of the nearby cemetery. The couple recalled coping by opening two bottles of Prosecco and watching a TV show upstairs. The prince noted that floods once described as "once-in-50-year" events now appear almost yearly, and said scientists need to view the whole river basin to find solutions. He mentioned measures such as slowing water flow with farming and landscaping changes, expanding tree planting and improving monitoring systems. At Great Tre‑Rhew Farm, William joined volunteers from the charity Stump Up for Trees, harvesting seeds from a field maple and planting a sessile oak, Wales’s national tree. The charity, founded in 2020, aims to plant one million native trees across south Wales and the Brecon Beacons, collected 35,000 seeds last year and targets 60,000 this year. Representatives from Natural Resources Wales, Monmouthshire County Council and the Duchy of Cornwall also took part, discussing collaborative efforts on nature‑based flood defenses. ## Context Flood‑prone villages like Skenfrith often rely on a mix of engineering and natural solutions; planting trees and managing land use can slow runoff and reduce flood peaks.