Thousands of people are braced for further days without power after storm force winds battered Britain.

As gales toppled lorries on the A1 hundreds of people were forced to draw water from bowsers after heavy flooding burst pipes.

More than 150,000 properties across the North-East and Yorkshire were left in the dark after 100mph winds and driving rain brought power lines crashing down.

Almost 10,000 homes were still without electricity on Monday as engineers fought to restore power.

In Hexham more than 1,100 Hexham homes will be without water until at least Friday.

Emergency crews in the town are struggling to fix almost two miles of pipes which burst alongside and over the Tyne at Acomb said the extreme weather was making their task difficult.

And they warned the number of homes without water could rise if remaining supplies were not conserved.

Northumbrian Water staff has installed emergency bowsers and tanks and bottled water was distributed to homes without tap supplies.

A Northumbrian Water spokeswoman said: "The repair of the damaged water mains is extremely awkward and difficult.

"It involves laying 3km of new water main in difficult weather conditions and also includes a bridge crossing. It is anticipated that the repair will take a few days to complete."

She warned that water taken from a bowser or static water tank for drinking or cooking should be boiled before use.

"As a precautionary measure customers are also advised to boil any water they use for drinking or cooking supplied to their property by water main," she said.

"If customers currently do not have water supplied by water main, they should boil the water once it is restored until further notice."

Tynedale Council chief executive Richard Robson said the floods were the worst in living memory.

He said: "There is a real need to conserve supplies. We are asking homes and businesses to reduce use as much as they are able."

Filling up his bucket at a bowser in Hexham, Timothy Tatman, 64, said: "We've had nothing to cook with, clean with or drink, which does make life very difficult indeed."

The retired company manager, from Hencotes, added: "I'm sure in a few days' time I'm going to be a bit smelly and a bit fed up, but I think the people in Carlisle have had it worse."

The crisis elsewhere in the country worsened after it emerged that three people had died and two more were missing.

Cumbria Police said a 63-year-old man died when a barn blew down in an area towards the Scottish border and the bodies of two elderly women were found in their Carlisle homes.

Two men were missing in West Yorkshire and Scotland, after they were swept away in swollen rivers.

Bad weather hampered the police search in the River Aire, near Bradford, while this morning the search will resume for Andrew MacDonald, 42, who is thought to have been swept away in the River Findhorn, in Morayshire.

A motorcyclist was last night being treated in Darlington Memorial Hospital after he was hit by a falling tree at Oak Tree, near Middleton Hall, Middleton St George, near Darlington, on Saturday.

He was released by firefighters and taken to hospital, where he was being treated for serious head and chest injuries. Northern Electric (NEDL) has deployed helicopters to isolated areas to identify the damage to power lines.

And Northern Ireland Electricity has been asked to help out by sending staff and equipment to the north of England.

Darlington, Crook, Bishop Auckland and Barnard Castle, in County Durham, and Northallerton, Richmond and Leyburn areas, in North Yorkshire, as well as outlying villages were among the worst-affected.

Villagers in Croft, Middleton St George and Middleton One Row, near Darlington, were among those still without power last night. The nearby village of Neasham was reconnected on Sunday afternoon.

Lawrie Stewart, landlord of The Fir Tree Inn, near Crook, said: "Nobody in the village could get hold of anybody to tell us what was happening and when we would get the electric back. All we could get were answering machines."

The Environment Agency said parts of the region had 100mm of rainfall in 24 hours, more than half the annual average for the month.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service said it received almost 300 calls for emergency assistance in 12 hours. The Tyne and Wear service took 230 calls between 7am and noon.

The weather took a heavy toll on the region's transport network, with planes, trains and cars all affected.

Police closed the A1(M) in both directions between Darlington and Chester-le-Street, County Durham, for most of Saturday.

The Highways Agency said 25 lorries overturned on the A1(M), near Darlington, during the morning.

Train operator GNER cancelled services between Newcastle and York for four hours as high winds brought down power lines, and trees and debris covered the tracks.

Several flights out of Newcastle Airport had to be cancelled, while a service to Heathrow from Durham Tees Valley Airport was grounded.