Live updates as M4 warning is issued and emergency services deal with crash

Drivers are being warned of poor driving conditions on the M4 in south Wales on New Year's Day afternoon. Heavy rain is causing difficult driving conditions on the motorway.

Emergency services were at the scene of an accident on the M4 this afternoon. It happened on the westbound carriageway at junction 44 Lon Las, near Swansea. One lane was closed but re-opened just before 3.30pm. The Met Office has issued a warning of heavy rain that comes into place at 5pm.

Traffic Wales posted images showing low visibility driving conditions and vehicles spraying water behind them because of the amount of rain that has fallen on the road. It warned drivers of poor conditions between J28 Tredegar and J30 Cardiff Gate.

The continued bad weather follows a wet and windy spell brought by Storm Gerrit last week. Natural Resources Wales has a flood warning on the river Ritec at Tenby and nine flood alerts in place across the country.

The Met Office yellow warning for rain says: "Following recent wet weather, further spells of rain, heavy in places are expected on Monday evening and overnight. Then after a brief gap, another spell of heavy rain is likely to spread northeastwards on Tuesday. The focus this evening and overnight will be across parts of southwest and southern England, south Wales and perhaps the Midlands.

"On Tuesday the focus for the heaviest rain is less clear-cut but perhaps more likely across parts of Wales, the Midlands towards eastern England and Yorkshire. Over the warning period, 15 to 30 mm rain is likely to fall fairly widely, with a few places seeing 35 to 50mm. The worst of the rain should clear southwestern areas of England and south Wales by around the middle of Tuesday but could last into the evening across the