Engineers from Electricity North West have restored power to more than 10,000 homes affected by Storm Dudley.

High winds topping 50mph and dangerous conditions hit the region yesterday afternoon causing 10,300 properties to lose power.

Teams of engineers on standby responded immediately and were able to restore power to 94 per cent of those affected within six hours despite dealing with fallen trees on power lines and as of 11.10am, engineers are working to restore the remaining 167 properties.

Stephanie Trubshaw, Electricity North West’s customer director, said: “It has been a busy period after Storm Dudley brought high winds for a sustained period of time.

“The majority of power cuts have been caused by trees falling on overhead power lines but despite these issues, we responded quickly and restored power to the bulk of those affected within six hours.

“Our engineers are continuing to work throughout the day and aim to restore power to the last remaining few affected as quickly as possible.”

Conditions from Storm Dudley are expected to ease throughout the day, however, Electricity North is warning of more bad weather as Storm Eunice looks set to hit the region tomorrow.

Amber weather warnings remain in place and Met Office experts say that people should expect fallen trees and that there is a good chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

Stephanie Trubshaw added: “It looks like it is going to be another tough couple of days for the region as Storm Eunice is forecasting to bring extremely high winds topping 80mph.

“We’ve got hundreds of locally based engineers available and we’ll be responding to power cuts as quickly as possible.

“If you see damaged equipment or lines down, do not approach as they could still be live and extremely dangerous. Stay away and call us immediately on 105 so we can make the area safe.

“If anyone needs extra help during a power cut, I’d encourage them to sign up to our Priority Services Register so we will be able to prioritise assistance if affected.”

• Electricity North West offers extra support to customers through their Priority Services Register. For more information and to register visit enwl.co.uk/priority.
• Live power cut information in the region is available on Electricity North West’s website here, and the network can be contacted on Twitteror Facebook, or by calling for free on 105 from any phone.
• Customers can stay safe and prepare themselves in the event of potential power cuts by following the simple advice here enwl.co.uk/power-cuts/helpful-tips.
• You can see how Electricity North West prepares the network throughout the year by watching this video.