WALES is heading for a 'perfect storm' of physical and mental health pressures this winter, the minister for mental health said today.

Speaking at the Welsh Government's coronavirus briefing, Eluned Morgan MS said a range of factors, including high coronavirus rates, winter pressures on the NHS, and a possible no deal Brexit are all matters the Welsh Government were concerned about.

This comes as new figures showed one in four callers to Samaritans Cymru's CALL mental health hotline over the last three months said they were concerned about their wellbeing over Christmas and the winter period.

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And when asked by the South Wales Argus if the possible impact of the indefinite tier four restrictions on people's mental health outweighed the possible benefits of the lockdown, Ms Morgan said the Welsh Government had weighed up all considerations.

"We are heading into a perfect storm," she said.

"That is the problem we are encountering here.

"Already we are entering Christmas with rates which are extremely high, we could be heading into a situation where we have a no deal Brexit, we have the winter pressures that are already on the NHS, and so all of these things combined really do make us concerned about the future.

"That's why the second lockdown doesn't have a clear end to it.

"What we have learned from the firebreak was that if you set a deadline and then the situation changes, then you need to be able to adapt. That's why we haven't set a deadline for coming out of this next phase.

"The other thing we do as a government always before considering what restrictions we bring in is we consider how we balance the harms.

"We know that coronavirus is one harm but there are other harms, including mental health harms, and we've already seen it - huge incidents and the increase in the levels of anxiety in the population. So I would hope that people would take up the offer of support that is in place.

"Today I've talked about the offer of support for businesses who are obviously under huge pressure but also individuals who are just frustrated by the situation and maybe have concerns about how their future looks.

"But that support package has been put in place and we would urge people to take advantage of it."