THUNDERSTORMS and flash floods wreaked havoc across the North-East last night.

Homes throughout Teesdale were left without power after hundreds of lightning strikes disrupted electricity supplies.

In Consett, County Durham, a builder had a lucky escape when a 10ft stone wall collapsed on the building in which he was working – destroyed by the sheer volume of water pressing against it.

Forecasters said that in some places several inches of rain fell in a few minutes as storms overwhelmed drains.

Many of the roads from Barnard Castle to villages in Upper Teesdale were covered in more than a foot of water, forcing some drivers to pull over and take an alternative route.

In Mickleton, residents tried in vain to stop the water entering their homes.

Villager Doris Ford said: “I think the leaves have blocked the drains so the water isn’t going away.

“It has come into the lounge and the hallway and brought all of the dirt with it. The carpets are soaked.

“I’m trying to fend it all off by myself.”

Homes in parts of County Durham were without power for several hours.

A National Grid spokesman said: “The weather has impacted on the electricity supply in areas across the North- East.”

The Met Office said it had recorded more than 400 lightning strikes in County Durham and more than 100 in Northumberland during the space of a few hours.

But the most dramatic escape came when builder Maurice Ramsden had to run for his life as a thunderstorm knocked down a 30ft-long section of embankment wall alongside the busy A68 near Consett.

The 46-year-old, from Sunderland, said: “I was doing some tiling in the bathroom when the thunderstorm started.

“I could hear the rain hammering down outside, and out of the window I could see rainwater flowing quickly down the path to the front door of the house.”

He went outside to try to brush the water away – but ended up running for his life as the wall began to give way, making it inside seconds before the debris smashed against the door.

He said: “Suddenly a large stone burst out of the middle of the embankment in front of me and more water started gushing towards the front door.

“I could see the wall was going to collapse so I turned on my heels and ran back towards the house.

“As I did, the entire 10ft wall collapsed behind me and I ran for my life, slamming the door behind me.”

Debris from the wall piled up against the door, trapping Mr Ramsden inside as water poured into the house. The build-up of debris caused a dam, sending the floodwaters surging into the house.

Mr Ramsden was eventually rescued unhurt from an upstairs window by fire crews.

Frank and Heather Reilly, the owners of Station Cottage, in the village of Rowley, near Consett, were not at home at the time of the incident.

Neighbour Richard Robson, 38, said: “There was quite a torrent – there were rivers coming down the hills where there hadn’t even been streams before.”

The retaining wall, which strengthens the A68 where it crosses the Waskerley Way cycletrack, stands over the former stationmaster’s house.

Steve Wharton, of Durham Fire Brigade, said that after helping Mr Ramsden escape the property, they used hoses to create a makeshift flood defence and divert the waters away from the cottage.

Mr Robson said: “The house is a mess. Frank and Heather had a lovely garden that they took a lot of pride in, which has been wrecked, and there’s now water right through the bottom floor and rubble piled up against the front of the house.”

Inspector Eddie Bell, of Durham Police, said the weather conditions were “unbelievable”

and at one time the lightning strikes had been so bad that people at the scene were taking refuge in their cars.

Police closed a five-mile stretch of the A68 between Castleside and Lanchester because of the collapse and set up a diversion along the A691, but within minutes had to backtrack after flash floods hit Lanchester, leaving Station Road and the centre of the village under several inches of water. The road was later reopened as a single carriageway.

Engineers will be on site this morning to examine the damage, but said the repairs could take several weeks.

Meanwhile, fire crews battled to save two schools from flooding in Moorside, near Consett.

Moorside Community Technical College and Moorside Primary School were affected.

Fire crews used pumps to protect the schools as the rainwater overwhelmed the drains, but in both cases the water entered the schools, where pupils were still in lessons.

The A1 Western Bypass, in Gateshead, and A1(M) motorway at Washington Services were badly affected by surface water. Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service received 50 flood-related calls in two hours, while the Metro system between North Shields and Tynemouth was closed because of flooding in tunnels.