Images of Wales

Sunday 4 January 1998

Flooding in the Wye Valley
Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire

(Photography by John Ball - 4th January 1998)

Ross-on-Wye is in the English county of Herefordshire, close to the Welsh border. The river Wye rises on the slopes of Plynlimon on the Cardiganshire Montgomeryshire border, within two miles of the source of the river Severn. For roughly two thirds of its 130-mile course the river Wye runs through Wales, the remainder through the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. It flows into the estuary of the river Severn, near Chepstow, Monmouthshire. The recent heavy rains have swollen the river causing it to flood low-lying land near Ross-on-Wye.

Above: The old town of Ross-on-Wye, viewed from the northwest. The spire of the parish church
is a prominent landmark. Sunlight reflects off floodwaters in the centre and right foreground.

Above: The waters of the river Wye are stained red by the sandy soil carried from
many miles upstream.

Above and below: The extent of the flooding makes it rather difficult to identify the true
course of the river Wye.