THESE dramatic images show wind battering the North East earlier today, as the region braces itself for more adverse weather conditions.
More than 45,000 homes were left without electricity following back-to-back storms which hit the UK over the weekend.
Storm Corrie brought winds of 92mph to the North of England late on Sunday, which followed Storm Malik that blew down trees, damaged power lines and ripped roofs off homes on Saturday.
Network Rail said fallen trees were affecting train services.
Read more: North East gets update about power outages from Northern Powergrid
On Monday, Northern Powergrid said it was dealing with about 200 incidents in Tyne and Wear and Northumberland, with about 7,000 customers without power in total. This includes 1,100 in County Durham.
In a statement on its website, the utility company said: “There is the possibility that a small number will run into Tuesday, the weather has caused us some additional disruption overnight that we also need to handle during the course of today.”
The firm insisted it had learned lessons from November’s Storm Arwen, which led to widespread complaints about the way it communicated with customers who had lost power.
It said Storm Malik was worse than forecast and led to about 80,000 people losing power, mainly in County Durham and Northumberland, but it was not as devastating as Storm Arwen as there was no snow and ice this time.
Following the announcement from Northern Powergrid, several dramatic pictures of Seaham in County Durham showcase the fact that the worst of the weather is not behind us.
The images, which were taken this morning, show waves crashing over the seas wall and lighthouse at the coastal town – with winds estimated between 75 and 80mph.
Read more: Storm Malik: Compensation for County Durham power cuts
In the aftermath of the two most recent storms, residents impacted by the power outages have spoken about their anger at the lack of communication and plans in place by Northern Powergrid.
Stewart Sexton, 58, lost power for 35 hours over the weekend, having previously been badly affected by Storm Arwen.
Describing himself as “enraged”, he told the PA news agency: “It’s all about a lack of maintenance of the infrastructure and no resilience plan from Northern Powergrid.
The dramatic photos of Seaham Harbour earlier today:
Pictures: PA MEDIA.
“We have had power cuts for 298 hours since November 26, just over two months.
“By any reckoning that must be unacceptable, and it indicates that there is certainly something wrong with the infrastructure around our communities, while neighbouring larger villagers didn’t lose power at all.”
North East MPs have also reacted angrily to the lack of communication for their constituents.
Conservative MP for Berwick, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said constituents were still complaining about poor communication regarding power cuts, adding: “I am getting reports that people are having similar issues with reporting the problem as they did with Storm Arwen.
“This is clearly not good enough and makes a difficult experience even more stressful.”
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