The remaining homes and businesses that were stuck without power in the northeast of England have had their connections restored nearly 12 days after Storm Arwen struck the country.
Northern PowerGrid said electricity was now back on in all 240,000 properties affected by what many describe as the “worst storm in over 60 years”.
There were concerns that this week’s earlier bad weather front, Storm Barra, could hinder progress and cause additional damage to buildings and trees.
While some areas on Tuesday did experience further power cuts, no significant damage from Storm Barra has been reported.
However, residents in some districts in County Durham and Northumberland are still relying on backup generators for power due to grid damage caused by Storm Arwen.
Northern PowerGrid says that the scope of the damage caused by Storm Arwen will take the power supplier well into the new year to fix and that generators will be removed once permanent repairs are completed.
Northern PowerGrid spokespersons have thanked people for their patience and apologised for the disruption caused by the storm.
Storm Arwen battered many areas of the northeast and Cumbria on the 26th of November, causing some of the worst storm damage seen in nearly 60 years.
Thousands of homeowners were left without electricity and heating as temperatures plummeted while falling trees caused the death of three people during the storm.
The storm caused wind surges of nearly 100 miles per hour which destroyed homes and caused significant disruption to much of the national power grid.
Rail services across the country were also disrupted and passengers in Aberdeenshire became stuck on a train overnight as the poor conditions delayed rescue services.
The extensive damage meant that the Army was brought in last week to assist many of the powerless communities. However, with power restored to the majority of homes troops are set to leave County Durham on Wednesday.
The local councils had asked that the government extend the emergency measures until Wednesday while some homes remained without power.
Durham and Northumberland’s county councils declared major incidents with overhead lines brought down in the storm, resulting in a loss of power to over 240 000 homes.
Power was initially set to be restored by the 3rd of December but further delays from Storm Barra resulted in a continued disruption of services.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson in response to the delay on Friday, said he had received assurance from Northern PowerGrid spokespersons that electricity would be restored by Tuesday.
The company said in a public address that with all homes now reconnected, it would “move quickly” to begin the compensation payment process for those that had remained without power for more than two days, with thousands of homeowners expected to make claims.
“We understand the strain this has placed on our customers at a difficult time,” a Northern PowerGrid spokesmen’s said “We encouraged all customers who remained off supply as a result of the Storm Arwen to access the enhanced welfare provisions we and our partners offered.”
With the storm passed and the damage repaired, many in the northeast are appreciating the return of power and heating in an otherwise gloomy winter.
Sources
https://www.northernpowergrid.com/news/northern-powergrid-storm-arwen-update
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/weather/learn-about/uk-past-events/interesting/2021/2021_07_storm_arwen.pdf
https://www.northernpowergrid.com/storm-arwen
