Engineers from Electricity North West (ENW) have restored power to around 17,000 customers since Storm Erik brought severe gales to the North West overnight and this morning (9 February).
The region’s power network operator has fixed ten faults and repaired damage to overhead power lines caused by the severe weather and flying debris throughout the morning.
Samantha Loukes, network manager for Electricity North West, said: “Storm Erik has brought some severe gales to our region overnight and this morning, with 74mph winds recorded at St Bees in Cumbria.
“This weather has impacted the network, but I’m pleased to say that we were able to restore some power within minutes and our engineers have also worked in difficult conditions to restore power to customers and they’ll be working through the day to restore the remaining customers as quickly as possible.
“We are still urging people that if they see any damage to our overhead power lines please stay away and report it to us straight away so we can repair it safely.
“We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week if customers need any help or advice.”
The distribution network operator said it was prepared and “on hand” for the first named storm of the year as the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for the weekend.
The company was “poised to respond” to any issues with extra engineers on standby and staff across the region continuing to monitor the forecast.
ENW is rumoured to be up for sale by its owners US investment bank JP Morgan and Australian institutional investor Colonial First State. The company has declined to comment.