We saw nobody at Christmas: anger grows as power stays off

Electricity North West (ENW) said 1,000 customers were without power in Cumbria this afternoon after engineers had restored more than 20,000 properties across the region.

In Wales, 1,100 properties – mainly in Anglesey and Gwynedd – have no electricity following the storms, a spokesman for Scottish Power said.

UK Power Networks said 481 customers in Kent were also without power, along with 96 in Surrey and 251 in Sussex.

Some residents in food-hit Yalding, Kent confronted Leader of Kent County Council, Paul Carter, about the lack of emergency responses over the festive period.

Speaking to Channel 4 News, one resident said: “Where were they emergency services when we needed them? It’s the local people who are in the streets.”

In the south-east of England, Prime Minister David Cameron was confronted on Friday by an angry flood victim as he visited a village seriously affected by the latest storms.

Meanwhile UK Power Networks, which owns electricity lines and cables in London, the South East and east of England, said it will increase payments from £27 to £75 as “a gesture of goodwill”, with more than 1,700 homes in Kent, Surrey and Sussex still without electricity.

When the high winds struck on Thursday, power was initially interrupted to more than 300,000 customers, the company said.

On Saturday Ministers held a COBR meeting where it was agreed financial assistance will be given to local authorities facing an undue financial burden because of the storms through a process known as the Bellwin scheme.

Energy Secretary Edward Davey said: “No one expects us to control the weather, but the power companies should do their very best to re-connect people quicker, and also communicate far more effectively with them.”

More flood risks

Heavy rain is expected to spread across the south west of England and south Wales from Sunday afternoon into Monday morning, the Met Office said.

Winds of 60-70mph are expected to hit Wales and parts of south-west and southern England, while exposed areas such as the Isles of Scilly, west Cornwall and west Wales could see gales of up to 80mph.

“With ground already saturated over much of this region, the public should be aware of the risk of further local flooding,” the Met Office said.

Scotland is also braced for more heavy rain overnight on Sunday into Monday morning, with 20-30mm of rainfall predicted and much as 50-60mm over high ground.

Read more: why the Christmas power cuts are a frightening wake-up call

Met Office forecaster Charlie Powell said the unsettled weather looks set to continue into the new year.

“It certainly looks a very wet and windy picture,” he said.

“On New Year’s Eve another band of rain will push in from the west. It will be a dry start to Wednesday but the unsettled weather will be around for quite some time into the new year.”

The Environment Agency (EA) said the predicted rainfall meant there is a “continued heightened flood risk” across southern England, especially south-west England where river levels remain high and the ground is already saturated.

Large rivers such as the Thames, Severn and Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire are most at risk of flooding, while high water levels on the River Medway and Stour in Kent will cause continued flooding and travel disruption, the EA said.

Some 1,300 properties have been flooded during the recent storms in England, the EA said, while flood defences have protected more than 80,000 properties.

Thursday night’s storms meant that several trains were delayed so lines could be examined in daylight before trains set off.

Travel chaos

The line from London to Portsmouth via Haslemere is blocked by four landslips near Liphook, and will stay closed over the weekend.

The track at Ockley between Horsham and Dorking is also closed following a serious landslip.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) took to Twitter to warn people about going outside in the gales.

A spokeswoman said the service had taken half a dozen calls in Lancashire alone about people being blown over by the wind, though only minor injuries were reported.

NWAS said that, as a precaution, people should stay indoors, out of the windy weather.

Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye Amber Rudd criticised Southeastern trains for failing to provide a replacement bus service for her constituents in the commuter belt towns.

While Southern Rail was offering workers the option of commuting to London via bus and even using Twitter to post regular updates, Southeastern services, including their communications, had been “lamentable”, she said.

“So Southern have really done very well,” said Ms Rudd. “I think it’s partly because they’ve got Gatwick Airport on their tail wanting a better service.

“But Southeastern has not been anywhere near as good, and I have received a lot of complaints about them. They have been just too complacent”.