Storm Francis exposes ancient Welsh forest which has been underwater for 4,500 years

From Country Living

A petrified Welsh woodland area, which was submerged under water for 4,500 years, has been exposed by Storm Francis — and the images are fascinating.

The eerie forest — made up of pine, oak, alder and birch trees — is believed to have stopped growing around 4,500 to 6,000 years ago, due to the sea level rising and suffocating the trees. But, over the years, climate change has caused the ancient tree stumps to emerge from the sand once again.

Uncovered on the south coast of Wales, the forest has a fairytale-like story to it, with many believing it's the mythical Sunken Kingdom of Wales. It has become associated with a 17th century myth of a sunken civilisation, known as the Cantre'r Gwaelod forestl.

Dr Hywel Griffiths, who took some images of the forest (below) at Borth/Ynyslas, told the Daily Mail that the discovery is both "both exciting and worrying". He said: "It's exciting because it's additional evidence of these climate change processes that have been going on for so long. But also worrying because we are seeing these landscape changes occur more often. It's due to the impact and influence of the storms that feel like they are happening more."

Historian Gerald Morgan added: "It's an addition to what we already know about the extraordinary number of petrified trees that have been found all along the coast of Wales. It's exciting because we have found another one that hasn't been recorded yet."

This isn't the first time parts of the forest have been exposed, either. Back in May 2014, and again in 2019, ferocious storms revealed previously unseen detail of the ancient woodland. Stretching between two and three miles along the villages of Ynyslas and Borth, it offered an awe-inspiring sight.

Take a look at some of the images below...

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