Parts of the River Wye have turned a light brown colour as a result of both torrential rain and landslips over the weekend.

Natural Resources Wales has been investigating reports about the colour of the Wye, stating that a combination of heavy rainfall and debris from landslips that hit the county in stormy weather on Sunday, May 12 have caused the river to change colour.  

The discolouration has been noticed along several parts of the Wye and has been recorded by Natural Resources Wales as the organisation encourages people to report any suspected pollution incidents in the coming days.

The landslip that led to the Wye’s unsightly colour happened in the catchment of the River Ithon, a tributary of the River Wye.

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Soil and other run off from the landslip caused the water to change colour, which then flowed from the Ithon into the Wye itself, affecting the colour of the catchment’s central waterway.

Jenny Phillips, South Powys Environment Team Leader for Natural Resources Wales, said: "We have had a number of reports from concerned residents along the Wye about the sudden discolouration of the river.

"We have been out investigating the cause of the discolouration, and we are confident that it has been caused by a landslip in the River Ithon catchment and the torrential rain that we had in Powys over the weekend.

"We found that the river is running clear above where the Ithon joins the Wye.

"We expect the discolouration to naturally stop with time, and that the discolouration will only have a minimal and short-term impact on the health of the Ithon or the Wye."

Anyone concerned with pollution in the River Wye can report it to NRW’s 24/7 incident line on 0300 065 3000.