Storm Arwen: Thousands of homes without power for a fourth night

At least 31,000 households have had a fourth night without power after what has been described as the worst mass outage in decades.

Northern Powergrid said 21,250 homes in the North East, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were still without power after Storm Arwen hit on Friday.

Electricity North West (ENW) said it had restored power to 90,000 homes but 3,000 were still in the dark.

It also said some customers may be without a connection until Friday.

A statement from ENW said: "The network has been severely damaged and our teams are continuing to work in challenging conditions.

"We understand the impact and frustration not having power for so long is causing our customers."

Friday's storm was so severe, that sections of overhead lines will need to be rebuilt after they were downed in winds of up 98mph.

The Energy Networks Association described the destruction of electricity lines as the worst seen in Britain since 2005.

It said the most severely affected areas were north-east England and Scotland and engineers had been drafted in from across the UK to help repair faults.

Rod Gardner, Northern Powergrid's major incident manager, said surveys by helicopter revealed "extensive damage" to large sections of power lines in some areas but it had restored 217,000 homes by Monday.

"The impact from Storm Arwen has been one of the worst we've experienced in the last 20 years."

Amid the power shortages communities across the north of England have been pooling resources and pulling together to help those in need.

The Angel Inn in the small town of Wooler, Northumberland, has been transformed into a community hub where those who have spent days without heating can enjoy hot food and drink and some warmth.

Landlady Nikki Lightfoot said she managed to access a generator and, despite the tough conditions, spirits were high.

"Everyone has been fantastic. We've had people making soup and bringing it in. Cafes have donated food and the Co-op has donated bread," she said.

"Everyone is pulling together."

People in the village of Nenthead, near Alston, in Cumbria, have been particularly badly affected.

Without power, some have been using outdoor stoves in freezing temperatures in order to cook a warm meal.

Householders have also had to contend with failing phone signals and sparse internet connectivity.

Resident Lorraine Costello said she had to resort to chopping up a wooden cabinet to fuel her outdoor stove.

"It's been absolutely freezing and we've been walking around the house to keep our body heat up," she said.

"I'm also cooking outdoors on a clay cooker which is a real struggle."

In the North West, trees and debris took down power lines and poles.

A support centre was set up by volunteers at Coniston Social Club which was able to keep power after sourcing a generator while houses around the Lake District area suffered outages.

Club chairman Willy Watson said the area's grid power had been off since about 21:30 GMT on Friday.

He said local hotels and cafes brought food and there had been a "steady stream" of volunteers.

"By the end of [Sunday] the social centre was full of people needing food and warmth," Mr Watson said.

Hot food vans and support were also in place in Alston, Nenthead and Ambleside, Cumbria County Council said.

A care home in Weardale, County Durham, gathered its 30 residents in the living room where a small generator had been providing the home's only heat since Friday.

Julie Percival, manager of Crosshill Nursing Home in Stanhope, said: "It has been absolutely Baltic up here, we have been really cut off.

"The residents are all wearing coats, hats, gloves and scarves, we've got them all wrapped up."

She said she was angry after having no contact from Northern Powergrid, although the firm said it was trying to help vulnerable people.

Ms Percival said: "It's upsetting, the staff are stressed but they are working over and beyond and the community has really come together."

She said she didn't think "we can stay much longer" and was "putting plans in place" to move residents to other homes which do have power, although that would be "heart-breaking for families, staff and residents".

She said she was taking residents' temperatures hourly, with the more ill patients wrapped in bed in foil blankets.

Meanwhile about 1,400 customers remain without power in the Staffordshire Moorlands area, Western Power Distribution said, following a peak of about 12,000 on Friday.

As well as heavy winds, which brought down hundreds of trees, there was also heavy snowfall which closed the A66 between Bowes in County Durham and Brough in Cumbria until Monday afternoon.

Durham Police said the job of rescuing dozens of stranded drivers stuck in heavy snow on the A66 near Scotch Corner in Darlington was aided by the National Police Air Service.

A spokesman for the force said: "Gritters and snowploughs also worked to remove stranded vehicles."

The Snake Pass, Woodhead Pass and Cat and Fiddle are among the roads in the Peak District closed by snow.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) was unable to run trains north of Newcastle as normal and the Tyne And Wear Metro was also hit by closures but is back up and running, apart from one section in Sunderland which is "under repair", operator Nexus said.

Dozens of postcodes across Bradford, Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield and Wakefield were also hit with about 1,600 West Yorkshire households still without power.

Jim Cardwell from Northern Powergrid said the firm was working "very hard" to get the lights back on.

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