Electricity was cut off to thousands of homes in the North-East this morning as high winds returned to batter the region.
About 4,000 homes in the Seaham area of County Durham lost power shortly before 7am today when a pole supporting the overhead cable network in the area was damaged and caught fire.
New Seaham Primary, Seaham School of Technology and St Cuthbert's Primary School in New Seaham are all closed today while engineers work to restore power. A spokesman for NEDL estimated it would take until lunchtime before power was reconnected.
Storm damage also affected other parts of the county, with Lanchester EP Primary School in the county also closed due to storm damage.
Several other schools in the Hexham and Corbridge area are closed, many of which have only just reopened after the storms earlier this month.
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