Northern Powergrid restores supplies to Northumberland homes after weekend storms

Northern Powergrid has revealed that by Tuesday evening it had reconnected the 100,000 customers around the North East whose power was interrupted by Storms Malik and Corrie.

It added that there are a handful of properties where the customers have asked to delay the completion of work to suit their plans.

Andy Bilclough, director of field operations, said: “Although not as big as Storm Arwen, Saturday’s storm was a big one. Restoring power to 80,000 customers is challenging enough without having to deal with a smaller storm adding 17,000 customers to the workload in the middle of the recovery effort. I am very proud of the team – it’s been a huge effort.”

Louise Lowes, head of customer service, added: “We understand that it is difficult for our customers to be without power for this length of time; we have appreciated their patience throughout and we’re sorry for the inconvenience.

"By learning lessons from Storm Arwen about how we communicate during major events, we do feel we’ve done a better job for our customers.

"We recognise that it is frustrating not to be given an exact estimate of when the lights will come back on, but in these circumstances the reality is that we are unable to be as precise as we would be under normal circumstances.”

The extent of the damage caused by both storms means that some customers are currently being supplied by generators.

These will need to be removed as permanent repairs are completed.

With supplies restored, next steps will include moving quickly to make compensation payments to those customers who are entitled to it under the terms of the industry compensation arrangements.

Northern Powergrid will also be making whatever payments are needed to reimburse customers as part of the welfare support package announced on Sunday, January 30.

Details of its compensation process will be announced on its website later in the week.

If you are still without power, or you have a safety concern relating to the network, please let Northern Powergrid know by calling its 24/7 team on 105.