Northern Powergrid, the company that powers everyday life for 8 million people across 3.9 million homes and businesses in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, is prepared should predicted challenging weather conditions cause damage to its electricity network and disruption for customers. 

The Met Office has forecast strong winds and heavy rain across the region from Friday morning and throughout the weekend bringing a risk of potential damage to power lines from windborne debris and flooding.

Glen Hodges, Northern Powergrid’s head of field services, said: "With a forecast for challenging weather for the third consecutive weekend, we remain ready to respond to any potential impact on our network and customers.  We closely track the weather every day so we can take timely action to prepare. We have extra teams ready to support our customers, monitor and respond to any flooding, restore power and carry out repairs if there is damage to our network as a result of the weather.

“We have extra network control engineers ready so we can quickly restore power to customers by switching electricity through alternative routes on our network, wherever possible. Our dispatch teams are also ready to mobilise our frontline teams to carry out repairs.

“Our specialist access equipment and fleet of 4x4 vehicles are ready to assist should the forecasted rain make travel and site access difficult. We also have teams of arborists on standby to help with any fallen trees that may damage our network or need to be removed to enable repairs.

"Customers can visit our website, northernpowergrid.com, and use our power cut map and reporting service to report a power cut or get updates about when their lights will be back on. Extra advisors will also be available at our local 24-hour contact centre to provide information, advice and support to our customers who call 105, the free power cut number.

“Our customer support vehicles are also prepped and ready to go out into our local communities to offer help on the ground to those who need it most. 

“We’re encouraging our customers to take a moment to ensure they have added 105 and bookmarked our website on their smartphone and watched our informative videos about what to do if you have a power cut so they’re ready and know what to do if they’re power is affected by the weather.”

The company is asking that anyone who spots any damaged cables or other equipment not to approach the area and report it immediately by calling 105.

Power cut advice and tips include:

• bookmark Northern Powergrid’s online power cut map and reporting service on your mobile devices – www.northernpowergrid.com/power-cuts
• have a charged mobile phone with important numbers, including 105, easily accessible.
• turn off electrical appliances at the socket (this is particularly important for heating or cooking appliances as your power could be restored at any time and potentially cause a safety hazard)
• keep one light switched on so you know when power is restored
• keep a battery or wind-up torch handy – they’re much safer than candles
• check on your elderly or sick neighbours and relatives
• ensure you have warm clothing and blankets handy and some food and drink in your home that does not require electricity to heat or prepare it
• only call 999 in an emergency.