Severe weather on its way

With strong winds and heavy rain forcast over the next few days, we would like to share the following information recieved from Northern Powergrid. They want to make you aware of preparations they have made in readiness for Storms Dudley and Eunice.

You can also find some useful hints and tips on what to do during a power cut on Northern Powergrid’s website at www.northernpowergrid.com/what-to-do-in-a-power-cut

‘We are aware that both storms carry a threat of gale force winds, forecast for our operating area from Wednesday evening, potentially causing damage to our network. We want to assure you that we closely track the weather and have ensured our resources are in place to respond if the storms impact our network.

Our network control engineers have capability to restore power supplies remotely, switching electricity through alternative routes on our network wherever possible to get customers back on supply. In parallel our frontline workforce will be deployed to carry out local switching and repairs to restore power as safely and quickly as possible, conditions allowing.

We will continue to track the forecast closely, as we always do.

If the situation develops we will keep you updated by text (where we have your number) and email - please keep an eye out for these updates.

As a reminder: if you do lose power, you can report your power cut online at www.northernpowergrid.com/power-cuts or take a look at our 24/7 social media feeds on Facebook and Twitter (@NorthPowergrid).

Informing us that you have no power means we can keep in touch with you during the power cut.

We are also reminding anyone who spots any damaged overhead power lines or other equipment that they must not approach the area and should report it immediately by calling 105. Our 24/7 contact centre will be available with advisors ready to provide information, advice and support to customers who call 105, the free, three-digit power cut number.

If you have a disability, medical condition or very young family, who may need greater assistance during a power cut and have signed up to our Priority Services Membership, we will keep you updated as a priority. If you require further support, you can contact our dedicated priority service line 0800 169 2996. Our customer support vehicles are also prepped and ready to go out into local communities, where possible, to offer help on the ground to those who need it most.

We expect that the storm will create levels of disruption that are over and above typical levels. If it does, we will be applying the lessons learnt from Storm Arwen in relation to keeping customers updated on our progress. In the early stages, we will give longer estimates of likely restoration times that reflect the fact that we won't know the extent of the damage to the network. During that time, we will expect to get a lot of supplies restored by reconfiguring the network, but we will not yet know which customers are affected by damage that needs physical repair to restore supplies. In those early stages, we will be working hard to assess the damage so that we can provide more precise updates as the situation unfolds.'