MORE than 14,000 homes were without power after severe gales brought down electricity cables throughout the region.

About 14,800 homes, stretching from Berwick to York, suffered power cuts for anything between an hour to three hours after the cables, belonging to NEDL, were destroyed.

Work was being carried out around-the-clock in an effort to restore power at various locations throughout the region.

A spokeswoman for NEDL said: "We worked to restore the remaining power supplies as quickly as possible. Most of the customers in Northumberland had their power restored by early afternoon yesterday.

"People without power in Yorkshire should have had it back by early evening.

"We apologise to those people who have suffered as a result of the damage caused to our system due to the weather."

A number of areas in the region also took a battering.

In Billingham, Teesside, shops had to be evacuated on Saturday after a piece of roofing blew from a shop in the town's West Precinct. Firefighters cordoned off the area and made it safe. Nobody was hurt.

Part of Whessoe Road, in Darlington, was also closed after high winds blew off a section of roof at a shop. The road was shut for about an hour between Longfield Road and Hopetown Lane, while the roof was made safe.

Firefighters on Teesside were called to Lloyds Bank on Stockton High Street, where a sign was swinging dangerously. They cordoned off the area and took the sign down.

A spokeswoman for the PA Weathercentre said the weather should begin to settle over the next few days, although it may be a while before spring arrives.

She said: "Today, the winds should have died down and there will be sunny spells with showers," she said.

"Over the next week we can expect to see a few sunny spells with wintry showers and temperatures of between six and nine degrees."