Warning after fires near popular mountain ahead of holiday weekend

Visitors are being advised to check before they travel to the popular peak Pen y Fan this bank holiday weekend, as a wildfire persists nearby.

South Wales Fire and Rescue has been managing the blaze in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, also known as the Brecon Beacons, since it broke out on Thursday, with forestry and grassland burning over 20 sq kms around Nant Ddu.

The nearby National Trust Cymru car park at Pont ar Daf was closed until midday Friday when the fire service said fire suppression plans had reduced the risk of it spreading further.

The park authority said the impacts of these fires "cannot be reversed", and urged visitors to be responsible and to take the risks seriously.

National Trust Cymru thanked the fire service for their efforts to control the fire in Bannau Brycheiniog, adding they would "remain in close contact with the fire service and continue to monitor the situation closely".

Pen y Fan is one of Wales' most popular destinations for walkers.

Eight miles (13km) south of Brecon, the mountain is the highest point in south Wales, its peak at 886m (2,900 ft), giving spectacular views of Bannau Brycheiniog and attracting hundreds of thousand of visitors each year.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said the period of warm and dry weather experienced across Wales has seen the risk of wildfires increase.

It urged people planning to enjoy Wales' outdoors over the Bank Holiday weekend to "act responsibly" and "think carefully about the impact their actions can have on the environment, wildlife and local communities".

Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority said it was grateful for the work of fire services and all involved in suppressing the fires, and urged visitors to be aware of their impacts.

"Fires in these landscapes spread rapidly, are difficult to control, and can cause severe and lasting damage to habitats and peatland… These impacts cannot be reversed and such fires put lives at risk and place severe pressure on the emergency services," they said.

With the bank holiday weekend approaching, the park authority urged visitors to "take this risk seriously".

"Do not light fires or disposable barbecues. Do not discard cigarettes or matches. Take all litter home," they said.

The fire service also attended a large wildfire at an industrial estate in Port Talbot on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service has been dealing with fires in the Elan Valley area since Sunday - although on Friday it said heavy rainfall and the deployment of a firefighting helicopter had helped the situation to "significantly" improve.

Firefighters have been responding to the fires near Claerwen Reservoir, Cwmystwyth, Teifi Pools in Powys, and have urged people not to visit the area.

BBC Weather have forecast rain showers in the area across the weekend, and officials say this should help mitigate the ongoing fires.

Earlier this week, Glyndwr Jones, a shepherd who lives at Claerwen Dam, described the fire as "quite frightening".

Elan Valley covers 70 sq miles (181 sq km) of land consisting of dams, reservoirs and rugged landscapes.

It is home to four dams - Craig Goch, Garreg Ddu, Pen y Garreg and Caban Coch - which were built more than 120 years ago to supply clean water to Birmingham, and later to mid and south Wales.

Jones, who has been a shepherd for the Elan Valley Trust for 26 years, said the fire had created uncertainty and he will not know the financial impact until it has been put out.

"As a shepherd, I think about the stock," he said, adding that he was concerned about lambs that had been on the hills "all winter".

"It's a big, big area. Big farms up this area," he said, adding that the area was "vast".

Brynmor Morgan, a farmer in Cwmystwyth, said most of the mountain where he was had been burned, spoiling much of the land.

He told Dros Frecwast on BBC Radio Cymru that it would not be until August before they get "growth and colour", and that the sheep will not have any grass in the meantime.

"We're in a poor situation to be honest," he said.

"We've been here for seven generations on the farm, and we keep diaries - but there's no mention of fire at all during that period.

"It's a new experience, and not one I would like to go through again," he said.

It comes as firefighters have issued a reminder stating that at least 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by the behaviour of people in communities, "who often start them deliberately or recklessly".

NRW said a helicopter had been deployed to drop water onto the wildfires because of a high risk to nature and lack of significant rainfall.

Richard Preece, duty tactical manager Wales at NRW, had earlier said the recent dry weather had increased the fire risk, but on Friday the fire service said the situation had "now improved significantly".

"Fire and rescue service personnel are now preparing to leave the scene," they added.