Thousands of homes left without power as Storm Dudley strikes Lancashire

High winds topping 50mph caused 10,300 homes across the North West to lose power yesterday, and Electricity North West warns that more power cuts are likely as Storm Eunice looks set to hit the region tomorrow (Friday, February 18).

Amber weather warnings remain in place and Met Office experts say that fallen trees might lead to further power cuts, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

A spokesman for Electricity North West said: “It looks like it is going to be another tough couple of days for the region as Storm Eunice is forecasting to bring extremely high winds topping 80mph.

"If you see damaged equipment or lines down, do not approach as they could still be live and extremely dangerous. Stay away and call us immediately on 105 so we can make the area safe."

Ongoing power cuts

In Croston this morning (Thursday), 118 homes are still without supply after losing power at 7.20pm last night and Electricity North West have warned that it might only be restored at around 3pm today.

In the rural Fylde hamlet of Thistleton, off the A585 Fleetwood Road, there are 31 homes still without power after it went off at 8.15pm last night. The restoration time is also around 3pm.

And in Padiham, near Burnley, 17 homes are still waiting for their supply to be restored after losing power at around 7.15pm last night.

Electricity North West added: "It has been a busy period after Storm Dudley brought high winds for a sustained period of time.

"The majority of power cuts have been caused by trees falling on overhead power lines but despite these issues, we responded quickly and restored power to the bulk of those affected within six hours.

"Our engineers are continuing to work throughout the day and aim to restore power to the last remaining few affected as quickly as possible."

Fixed power cuts

Some of the biggest power cuts have now been resolved, including one last night in West Lancashire which left 2,207 homes in the dark in Tarleton, Scarisbrick and Banks.

In Chorley, over 700 homes were left without power shortly before 4.25pm after a "high voltage cable" was damaged by the wind. Power was restored by around 7pm.

And the M6 in Lancashire was also affected with Charnock Richard Services forced to close due to a power cut on Wednesday afternoon. The Texaco petrol station and EV charging points were out of service due to the loss of electricity.

At one point nearly 1,700 homes in Wigan were without power. Electricity North West sent engineers to deal with the problem, which was caused by Storm Dudley's fierce winds.

Lancashire and the North West is bracing for further weather chaos today (Thursday, February 17) as Storm Dudley continues to sweep across the county.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for strong winds until 6pm this evening.