Tuesday 17 October 2017

Hurricane Ophelia: Thousands of homes without power

Hurricane Ophelia is causing disruption across the UK and Ireland, leaving thousands of homes without power.

Engineers from Electricity North West are working towards restoring power after the storm hit overnight.

It restored power supplies to more than 16,000 properties through the night, however around 2,000 properties are still without power as flying debris hit power lines and high winds are making it difficult for repair teams. Around 1,700 properties in the Lake District and 150 homes in Lancashire are affected.

Around 245,000 customers in Ireland and 3,600 homes in Northern Ireland are also affected.

Thousands of homes in Wales were also left without electricity yesterday, affecting most of the properties in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.

According to Western Power Distribution, around 250 properties still have no access to power.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning today, with spells of very windy weather and the potential for more power cuts. Very strong winds of more than 70mph and heavy rain have hit parts of Scotland and northeast England.