Despite working round the clock to restore power to those affected by ex-hurricane Ophelia on Monday and early Tuesday, further bad weather last night from 6.30pm caused power cuts to another 5,000 properties along the county’s west coast.

Engineers worked through the night and restored power to all but 18 customers and they will continue to work today to restore those final few customers located in Egremont, Cumbria.

Now it's back to business as usual on the network, Electricity North West has turned their attention to assisting the restoration efforts in the Republic of Ireland. A team of more than 30, including engineers and overhead lines people, will help repair damage and restore power to thousands still without power in the Republic of Ireland.

Mark Williamson, operations director for Electricity North West, said: “Our engineers have worked in extremely difficult conditions to repair damage to our network caused by ex-hurricane Ophelia and the subsequent severe weather last night.

“It’s back to business as usual on the network now and we will get the remaining few customers back on today.

“We would like to thank our customers for their support and thanks also to our engineers that have done a fantastic job and we’re proud of now being able to send them to help in the huge restoration efforts in the Republic of Ireland."

Extra support was on hand during the severe weather including a catering van offering free hot food and drink to customers without power in Cumbria.

Customers that require extra assistance can sign up for Electricity North West's Priority Services Register at www.enwl.co.uk/priority