Thousands of households remain without power across the North East as winds in excess of 92mph have been recorded in the UK for the second consecutive night.
A cold and blustery start to Monday follows a stormy weekend of devastating winds across the region, the strongest of which during Storm Malik was 93mph in Brizlee Wood, Northumberland, on Saturday morning.
Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “That is exceptionally strong for any time of the year and there is no wonder there were significant impacts such as power outages and damage to buildings."
Storm Corrie hit a day later and its gusts are set to slowly move away on Monday morning. Winds of 92mph were recorded in the exposed Scottish region of Stornoway as Corrie began to hit the UK on Sunday night, bringing strong gusts inland.
South Tyneside Council said Mortimer School will be closed on Monday to allow contractors to undertake a site inspection following damage caused by Storm Malik.
Hospitality worker Clare Stirling-Turnbull, 47, of Powburn, Northumberland, has been without heating and electricity since 9am on Saturday.
To make matters worse, one of the children in her family of six has Covid and is currently isolating.
She said: “So we can’t go to relatives’ houses… we have no electric, no heating or hot water – we do have a wood burner so can heat one room.”
The family were “well prepared” thanks to a gas barbeque, candle and hot water bottles, she said.
Ms Stirling-Turnbull said that visually the storm was “frightening” for her children.
“There is still so much damage from Arwen, so much more debris… it’s heartbreaking for this area – vast areas of woods have just been flattened,” she said.
She acknowledged the “mammoth task” Northern Powergrid is facing.
“They have done all they possibly can, reconnection times are only an estimate.
“We fully understand that they try their utmost to reconnect as quickly as possible.”
Northern Powergrid said that around 80,000 customers, almost all in Northumberland and County Durham, had been affected by power cuts.
Director Paul Glendinning said on Sunday evening: “Given what we now know, we expect that around 4,000 customers will still be off supply as we go into tomorrow (Monday). We have confirmed that there is around 200 damage points on the low voltage network that will reconnect only a small number of customers for each repair.”
Durham County Council, which offered free hot food and drinks to households who were without power, has had teams out clearing blocked roads, footpaths and debris.
Stewart Sexton, from Alnwick, called the lack of support from his local power supplier “a disgrace” as he prepares to tackle a third consecutive day with no heating, hot water or electricity.
Mr Sexton lost power for 10 days after Storm Arwen last year and said he and his family do not feel well supported this time.
“No sign of contact or support,” the 58-year-old told the PA news agency.
“Will we be last again? Why should we be last? We pay the same service and expect the same service.
“It’s a disgrace… nothing from councillors or MP to support us either – zilch.”
Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan is the MP for Mr Sexton’s constituency, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and has not yet publicly commented on power outages caused by Storm Malik, but said in her weekly email to constituents that she will “continue to push” Northern Powergrid to compensate their customers in the aftermath of Storm Arwen.
Mr Sexton is making use of a “small generator” to power a lamp and a radio in his house.
“Not enough to boil a kettle though,” he said.
“We have always had storms (but) never had days without power… even the ‘Beast from the East’ and snow in 2010 didn’t cut us off.”
Get live Storm Corrie updates here.
