Engineers from Electricity North West have issued urgent safety advice for properties in flood-hit areas.

Teams from the region's power grid are out attending to a number of issues on the network, including flooded electricity substations and damaged underground cables.

There are currently around 2,500 properties without power in the North West, the vast majority of those are in Greater Manchester. Engineering teams are working with local emergency responders to access sites and make repairs as soon as it is safe.

Richard Moulton, Incident Manager at Electricity North West, said: "We build flood protections into our high risk sites, but when these are breached and water enters our equipment the power will cut off for safety reasons. If you're without power, it may be because your local substation, or the cable between the substation and your property, is flooded.

"Our teams are out on site making repairs as fast as we can, but in many cases we will have to wait until the flood water recedes before we can access sites and restore power safely.

"We are responsible for all the cables up to your meter, so if you have a power cut or your meter has been flooded, contact Electricity North West in the first instance so we can assess and repair any network issues, keep you safe and advise next steps. In some cases you may need to contact a private qualified electrician to assess or repair your meter following a flood."

Advice from Electricity North West during a flood:

• Make sure any appliances or electrical equipment is switched off.
• Turn off your power supply by the isolator switch but only if it's safe to do so.
• Do not touch any electricity points when standing in water.
• Check any elderly or sick neighbours or relatives to make sure they are safe.

After a flood:

• If your supply is still on or has been underwater and comes back on, contact a qualified electrician.
• If your meter point has been underwater or still have no electricity please contact us on 105 or report a power cut for us to do a safety check.
• If you can smell smoke or you are in any doubt, contact a qualified electrician or contact us on 105.

If you need any additional support go to www.enwl.co.uk/ExtraCare or call Electricity North West on 105.