Power restored to more than 20,600 properties as engineers continue to make repairs following Storm Ciara (16:30 update)

Engineers from Electricity North West have been battling the elements as high winds and heavy rain continue to impact power supplies across the North West.

Electricity North West have now restored power to more 20,600 properties after Storm Ciara hit the region with heavy rain and wind speeds of up to 80mph this morning. Engineers will continue to work through the day and evening to restore power to 7,063 customers, including 4,000 customers in Padiham due to flooding.

More than 200 engineers are working hard across the region and we are continuing to closely monitor the weather as the Met Office weather warnings are still in place for today and tomorrow.

Sam Loukes, Incident Manager at Electricity North West, said: “We’re still all systems go to repair the damage caused by Storm Ciara and restore customers as quickly and safely as possible. We have a number of trees that have fallen on overhead powerlines and a number of substations flooded due to heavy rain, but we want to reassure our customers that we are doing everything we can to restore your power.

“We would like to thank our colleagues who are working in these difficult weather conditions and urge our customers to remain vigilant and stay indoors where possible. If people do see damage to the electricity network, we urge them to stay away and report it to us immediately by calling 105.”

You can view any live power cut information in the region on Electricity North West’s website here, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or by calling for free on 105 from any phone.

Electricity North West offers extra support to customers through their Priority Services Register. For more information and to register visit www.enwl.co.uk/priority.

Customers can stay safe and prepare themselves in the event of potential power cuts by following the simple advice here www.enwl.co.uk/power-cuts/helpful-tips.

You can see how Electricity North West prepares the network throughout the year by watching this video.