HUNDREDS of homes were still without power across the North last night after 20,000 lightning strikes hit the area.

At the height of Wednesday evening's storm, almost 100,000 households in the region were blacked out.

Engineers worked to restore power and most homes were reconnected during the evening. But 5,000 homes woke to a morning without electricity, which were gradually restored yesterday.

An electricity company spokesman said most problems were caused by strikes on transformers and overhead equipment. Most of the homes cut off were scattered across rural districts.

The clean-up of the region to repair damage caused by flash floods continued all day yesterday.

Seaham Leisure Centre, in County Durham, was evacuated as water seeped through fire doors, and properties in the Wheatley Hill area suffered minor damage.

Tyneside suffered most damage. In the most dramatic incident, 21 passengers were rescued from a stranded Metro train after overhead cables were struck by lightning between Heworth and Pelaw.

Streets in South Tyneside were under 3ft of water -over the bonnets of cars -and customers had to be carried to safety from Kennedy's pub, in the Tyne Dock area.

Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade had to draft in extra staff to its control room after taking more than 350 calls in two hours. A spokesman said: "It was non-stop, but the staff coped well."

In Bishop Auckland, County Durham, the Asda supermarket closed for four hours when water poured through the store's flat roof.

Cleveland Fire Brigade dealt with 47 incidents during the two-hour thunderstorm.

The Rainbow Leisure Centre, at Coulby Newham, near Middlesbrough, was evacuated when lightning struck the roof, and a plant room was flooded.

Firefighters were called to more than 20 flooding incidents in North Yorkshire.

The worst-hit areas were in Ripon, Harrogate and Skipton, where several businesses suffered water damage.

A barn in Easingwold was destroyed after lightning set it on fire.

Train passengers were still suffering delays yesterday as engineers battled to restore services.

The East Coast Main Line emerged largely unscathed, with only a lightning strike between Northallerton and Thirsk causing brief delays just before 6pm on Wednesday.

Signalling problems in the Whitby area were also being fixed yesterday morning, but the Hull to Scarborough line bore the brunt of the storms, with many services delayed on Wednesday night