Storms and bad weather are just part and parcel of living in the UK, particularly at this time of year. But, we are seeing more extreme weather, which is taking communities longer to recover from. From fallen trees to downed power lines and flooding, the trail network in the UK has taken a battering recently, with those in Wales and the North West feeling the brunt of it.

With weather events like Storm Darragh occurring more frequently, what is the impact both over the short and longer term on our mountain biking trails? And what can trail crews and volunteers do to rectify the damage? We’ve spoken to trail associations, trail builders and community projects across the UK to form a damage assessment of this recent extreme weather.

A carpet of fallen branches is the tip of the iceberg across the Trail Collective North Wales’ patch. Credit: TCNW

“The damage sustained during Storm Arwen in 2021 is still being cleared up in areas of North Wales”

Kath Goodey, recently named as one of Cycling UK’s 100 inspirational women in 2024, works with The Trail Collective North Wales to improve access for riders in North Wales. Goodey and her team have been working hard to clear the trail surfaces as well as making locations of fallen trees known to their NRW MTB ranger.

“The Trail Collective North Wales volunteers and many keen local riders have been out throughout North Wales assessing the damage to both official and unofficial trails. We’ve cleared huge quantities of wind blown brash from the trail surfaces and alerted our NRW mtb ranger, through TrailForks updates, as to where large numbers of trees have fallen across trails.Storm Darragh raged through out the weekend and brought down trees and power lines and snapped the poles carrying them.

The TCNW social media has been put to use to warn other riders to stay away from affected trails. Credit: TCNW

“We used our social media channels to warn riders to stay well away from trails that were affected by these downed power lines, as well as informing riders of the damage and closure of the sections of official trails that were affected. We also advised our mtb communities that, while NRW contractors were working hard to clear the forest roads and tracks, mtb trails would be low priority.

“We are well aware of the funding and personnel cuts currently underway in NRW and are very worried about the extra expense and effort that will be required to reopen the local trails. The damage sustained during Storm Arwen in 2021 is still being cleared up in areas of North Wales so, given all these circumstances we are justified in our concerns.”

Despite being on the east coast, Dalby Forest also suffered significant trail damage. Credit: SingletrAction

“It will take some time before all the trails are open again”

Up in Yorkshire, the impact from the recent storms has been mixed. One local volunteer trail building group, SingletrAction, led by Chairman Jeremy Sainter, looks after areas like Stainburn, Wetherby and Dalby. Sainter said that, while Wetherby and Stainburn got off quite lightly, Dalby “was a different story.”

“The whole forest has seen widespread damage. The access roads have now been cleared but the trails will take some time to sort out. SingletrAction volunteers were on site yesterday walking the trails to identify the damaged areas and they are considerable. Some sections got away scot-free, but others will need heavy machinery to clear the larger trees. Forestry England will use the information we provide to plan the recovery work, but it will take some time before all the trails are open again.”

Clearing treed like this in Dalby Forest is not a quick task.

“It’s creating so much extra pressure on volunteer communities who look after our trails”

Down in the south of England, some areas like the Forest of Dean got off quite lightly, whilst others near Bristol have really felt the impact – resulting in some events being cancelled at Ashton Court. Dr Fiona Spotswood co-runs the Bristol Shredders, a children’s mountain biking club in Bristol. She said the damage done to the trails, and lack of volunteer time in the lead-up to Christmas, has led to the Shredders having to cancel several events.

“The storms have created such a problem for us, not just with trees down, but with washed away sections of trail. We’ve had to cancel the last two childrens’ rides, which has created so much disappointment. The main issue has obviously been weather – really, startling, alarming weather – but also there are sections of trail which just need more volunteer time to clear now.

“The clearing of these trails happens with volunteer time, and we’re all busy doing other things in the lead up to Christmas and working hard as well in our jobs. And it’s creating so much extra pressure on volunteer communities who look after our trails.

The Dean Trail Volunteers recently won an award for their efforts at the Forest of Dean

“I guess we’re feeling kinda lucky”

That being said, it’s not all doom and gloom – Andrew Davies, the Chair of the Dean Trail Volunteers (who recently won an award for their efforts), cited a positive relationship with their landowner means that trails can be maintained and repaired more easily than other parts of the country.

“I guess we’re feeling kinda lucky; we have a great relationship with our land owner, we’ve got an amazing community of local bike related businesses like Pedalabikeaway, and the various coaches we have onsite. Not to mention the uplift service. We help bring the volunteers into the mix, but there are others like Goals Beyond Grass who provide accessible adaptive bikes.

“Seems sad that this kind of ecosystem – made possible with an engaged landowner, sustainable local businesses and strong volunteer sector – can’t be replicated more broadly across the UK. I know sometimes people question the need for volunteers at a cycle centre like ours, but hopefully the award shows how important trail associations are to bringing in the community, accessibility and ecological side of things.”

So while we might be struggling to find some suitable trails over Christmas to test out our new bikes on (Santa is bringing you a new bike, right?!) it’s more important now than ever before to support our local trail associations and builders so that we can get things back up and running as quickly as possible. Things like dig days and events held locally are a great way to give back to the trails and the community.