Fed-up residents in a Welsh village are holding their breath for a day of dry weather after 81 days of consistent rainfall.

People living in Eglwyswrw, Pembrokeshire, have experienced rainfall every day since October 26.

As well as dampening the spirits of locals, it has also caused problems for farmers – who have had to keep their livestock indoors.

However, while Eglwyswrw’s predicament has seen it gain international headlines as well as close in on the previous record, villagers hope Saturday’s predicted dry spell will be correct.

Farmer and local councillor John Davies, 52, described the rain as being as of biblical proportions.

He said: “I think everybody in the village is starting to get fed up with it now.

“The forecast for tomorrow is finally dry weather, but to be honest that’s been predicted before and hasn’t materialised.

“I think people would much prefer some decent weather than for the village to end up in the record books.

“It is grinding people down both physically and psychologically.

“Our sheep are pretty hardy animals but even they are looking depressed. Their fleeces are not getting the chance to dry out because of the endless rain. And I’ve also had to keep my cattle indoors since October.

Howard Lewis, who runs a Shire horse centre in the village, said he had never seen the ground so saturated from rainfall.

    

The 73-year-old added: “We’ve had some bad years but I can’t remember it raining every day for so long.

“It’s making people miserable, all we are getting is grey skies and rain.”

A weather station nearby at Whitechurch has recorded at least 0.2mm of rain – to comply with the Met Office definition of a “rainy” day.

But while there has been no let-up in the rain, those living in Eglwswrw have at least escaped flood problems as the village stands 423ft above sea level.

And the tightly knit west Wales community also has a bit to go before it can claim the British record for most consecutive days of rainfall.

That was set between August 12 and November 8 1923 when it chucked it down for 89 days in Eallabus, Isle of Islay, Argyllshire, Scotland.

Met Office meteorologist Emma Sharples said the rainfall figures for the Whitechurch station were consistent with this winter’s extreme rainfall.

She said: “The wind has been mild and moist from the south and south west. Warm air holds more moisture and the direction of the wind has been key – the Pembrokeshire coast is the first point at which the rain bearing clouds meet the land.”