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Chronicle Live
Chronicle Live
National
Sophie Finnegan

More than 1,000 North East homes still without power after Storm Dudley

More than 1,000 homes in the North East are still without power after Storm Dudley battered the region.

Ross Easton, from the Energy Networks Association, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, that 1,000 people are still without power this morning after strong winds caused chaos.

An amber warning was issued after winds of up to 80mph pulled trees and power cables down and forced sites and landmarks to temporarily close their doors.

Go here for the very latest breaking news updates from across the North East

A yellow weather warning for wind remains in place for Thursday and Friday as Storm Eunice rolls in bringing more disruption.

But Mr Easton assured residents that "preparations are very much underway" to make sure resources are in place to deal with Storm Eunice.

He told the Today Programme on Thursday morning: "In the North East of England this morning, the latest information I have is just over 1,000 people are without power now.

The Met Office has issued amber and yellow weather warnings for Storm Eunice (Chronicle Live)

"We do have an eye on Eunice and preparations are very much underway to make sure we have people and resources in place for that storm.

"When there's a storm it's about getting those preparations in place and getting people reconnected as quickly as we possibly can.

"The majority of customers have been reconnected this morning from the storm damage overnight and that's about the preparations that were put in place and the engineers that have been working overnight to reconnect customers.

"We've been contacting customers proactively particularly those who are in a vulnerable position or with young families."

Mr Easton said following the huge disruptions of Storm Arwen in November last year, preparations were started "within minutes" of Storm Dudley and Eunice being named.

He said: "We have obviously seen huge disruptions from storms not just on the electricity side but on the transport side as well.

"Arwen was one of the worst storms we've seen in decades and certainly in terms of Dudley and Eunice coming along those preparations started within minutes of those storms being named.

"In terms of the energy networks, we've invested £12 billion on reliability and reliance measures over the last five years and we do have one of the most reliable networks in the world."

Northern Powergrid has said they have restored power to 19,000 homes and businesses impacted by Storm Dudley.

They are currently working towards restoring electricity supplies for around 1,000 properties still affected.

Tyne and Wear Metro services have been impacted by a damaged wall and overhead cables also need repair after they were damaged by high winds.

London North East Railway (LNER) has also warned customers with tickets for journeys between York and Leeds and London King’s Cross on Friday to move them to Thursday instead due to expected disruption and damage.

You can follow our live blog on the storms here.

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