Scenes of devastation as region is battered by gales and floods

On Saturday morning, 150,000 homes in nearly 1,000 locations were left without power after 100mph winds and driving rain hit the region overnight.

Northern Electric Distribution Ltd and Yorkshire Electricity Distribution Ltd worked continuously to restore the supply, but on Monday, 7,000 customers were still without power.

An NEDL spokesman said: "We have more than 550 staff working tirelessly to restore power as quickly as possible.

"We have been hit by more than 1,000 faults throughout the weekend and have deployed helicopters in remote areas to locate and assess the damage."

Emergency services received a record number of calls and were stretched to the limit.

In Darlington, 250 calls were received by the council over the weekend, mostly relating to damaged trees and concern over falling tiles.

A chimney stack was blown down 30ft into Tubwell Row and firefighters removed an adjacent stack as a precaution.

A 15-year-old boy escaped death by inches when a large chimney collapsed through the roof of his attic bedroom, in Stanhope Road.

Firefighters freed the boy and he was reunited with his shocked family.

Fire station crew manager Mike Money said: "The chimney missed the lad by, I would say, about 1ft. He was extremely lucky. If it had landed on top of him it would have killed him."

Pensioner Evelyn Cockburn also suffered bruising when wind sent a 40ft Scots pine tree through her bungalow roof in Bede Road.

On Saturday, firefighters were called out to White House Farm, at Middleton One Row, after a barn collapsed and trapped 13 cows. Two beasts were killed but the other 11 were released uninjured.

A motorcyclist was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital after he suffered head and chest injuries when a tree landed on him after it blew over as he drove west at West Park, Middleton St George.

Water levels in the River Tees rose alarmingly at Croft Bridge on Saturday morning, prompting the Environment Agency to place a flood warning on the stretch of river.

Property owners at nearby Hurworth Place placed sandbags outside their homes as a precaution.

A number of flooding incidents were reported in Middleton in Teesdale.

Fire crews from Barnard Castle were called out to Whorlton Grange Nursing Home to pump out the flooded cellar.

Farms and villages around Hamsterley also spent nearly three days without power.

The A66 trans-Pennine route and the A689 Newton Cap Viaduct near Bishop Auckland were closed to high-sided vehicles and caravans, and a high wind warning was placed on the A1M in County Durham.

A bread delivery van driver had to be rescued by helicopter after his vehicle became marooned in deep floodwaters which inundated the A684 on the western side of the bridge at Morton on Swale on Saturday.

The floods closed the main road transport link between Northallerton and Bedale, forcing the cancellation of buses; Wensleydale Railway train services between Leeming Bar and Redmire were suspended.

A heavy sandstone war memorial was damaged when it was blown over outside the Blue Bell pub, at Ingleby Cross. The memorial was built after villagers raised money to commemorate locals who had died in the First World War and was renovated in 2001.

Staff from Richmondshire District Council worked round the clock to deal with the storm damage.

A total of 50 trees were reported as having fallen or being in a dangerous condition.

Two trees fell on to a portable building at Leyburn auction mart and a large lime tree came down in the station building car park in Richmond.

Manfield lost power at 6am on Sunday, and on Monday, parts of the village were still in darkness.

The community response was reminiscent of the Forties and Fifties. Trees were quickly removed, apart from one in Grunton Lane, which brought down the power.

The Crown Inn, unlike many others, remained open. One advantage was that it only serves hand-pulled real ales. Lit by modern hurricane lamps, torches and candles, with landlord Peter Hynes kitted out with a cavers' helmet, business was brisk throughout the weekend.

All Saints' Church lost part of its south transept roof. The church was also without heating or light so the Sunday service, taken by the Rev G Dear, was transferred to Manfield Grange, which was the vicarage until 1896.

A woman at Aldbrough St John escaped unhurt when a large branch fell on to her car and several villages in Wensleydale and the Richmond area were cut off by fallen trees in the early hours of Saturday.

Last Friday, two people were also rescued from their car by firefighters as the A684 near Hawes flooded.

Farmer Joy Starkey, from Chop Gate, who is also Bilsdale correspondent for the D&S Times, found that a huge branch from an ash tree had been blown on top of the front of her tractor digger. Branches had gone straight through the windscreen, and the front lifting arm was damaged.

There had been damage to other parts of the farm with many tiles dislodged on the roofs of buildings, and a greenhouse that gave the appearance of having exploded, with most of the glass blown out and strewn in bits over the surrounding area up to 15m away.

She said that this had been the worst storm damage at the farm since the residue of Hurricane Charlie blew the roof off the barn wheelhouse more than 18 years ago.

Cleveland Fire and Rescue Brigade received a record number of weather-related calls on Saturday, and high winds took part of the roof off Teesside University's library, in Middlesbrough, causing it to be out of action until Wednesday.

Officials at Sedgefield racecourse also had to repair minor damage to ensure Tuesday's meeting went ahead. The roof of the groundsman's hut was blown off, hitting several buildings.

In Saltburn, several cars were damaged by a falling chimney pot in Pearl Street and a lamp head in Station Square on Saturday. Slates fell off roofs in several parts of the town, in particular at the corner of Bath Street and Dundas Street. An iron lamp head snapped off in the station precinct.

Emergency services, local authorities and electricity companies had to contend with more gales and rain on Tuesday night.

Houses in a number of villages around Darlington and Richmond, including Barton, Melsonby, Cleasby and Piercebridge, briefly lost power owing to wind damage.

Overnight, NEDL and YEDL staff continued to restore power supplies until high winds and atrocious conditions forced them to suspend their work.

Power had been restored to more than 149,900 supplies, but work resumed on Wednesday reconnecting the remaining 100 customers still affected by the weekend storms in the Darlington and Cleveland area.

Durham County Council also revealed that the damage caused to the county's roads had already passed the £100,000 mark.

Fallen trees, blocked roads and landslips had caused havoc on routes across the county and repairs required by the damages so far may take weeks to carry out.

The gale damage has also prompted a warning from police across the North Yorkshire and the North-East about cowboy builders who could be looking to cash in on the wreckage.

In North Yorkshire, one elderly resident of Wheldrake, near York, had already handed over money to a convincing roofer who said tiles needed replacing. He disappeared and no work was carried out