Storms Malik and Corrie: Around 1,200 customers still without power

About 1,200 properties are still without power after being hit by two storms at the weekend.

Northern Powergrid said 80,000 homes were affected after Storm Malik hit on Saturday and Storm Corrie on Sunday.

Hundreds of trees were felled and a major incident was declared in County Durham.

More than 240 household were cut off in Cumbria but most have been restored apart from eight in Grange-over-Sands, Electricity North West said.

Jim Cardwell, from Northern Powergrid, told BBC Radio Newcastle that Storm Malik brought "pretty significant winds" causing "windborne debris and tree damage".

Following "a very busy weekend", engineers worked throughout Monday to reconnect as many homes and businesses as possible but Mr Cardwell admitted "there is a risk a small number will go into Tuesday".

Northern Powergrid said there were still 200 "damage points" on the network that needed to be fixed.

A statement read: "We will be working late into the night on all remaining incidents. We're making good progress.

"We regret that in some cases we cannot yet give precise estimates of when power will be restored because the work involved in one job has a knock on effect on the timing of others."

Durham County Council staff cleared fallen trees and other debris from roads on Monday with the aim of having all routes open again for Tuesday morning.

Electricity North West said about 8,000 homes lost power, but only a handful of homes in Cumbria were still off.

Strong winds closed the entire Tyne and Wear Metro network on Saturday, with gusts of 93mph recorded at Brizlee Wood in Northumberland.

By Monday evening, operator Nexus said trains between Benton and Monkseaton would still not be running be due to damage.

A major incident was declared in Northumberland and County Durham after the storm brought down trees and power lines.

Northern Powergrid said the damage was not as extensive as that caused by Storm Arwen in November which saw many homes left without power for more than six days.

The firm said it put in place two "key lessons" learned from Storm Arwen, namely improving its power checker website during periods of high demand and doing "a better job" in giving people estimated times of restoration.

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