Storm Otto: Northumberland and County Durham homes without power

Winds whipped up the sands in Tynemouth

Hundreds of homes are without power as Storm Otto brought winds of up to 70mph (113km/h).

A yellow warning for "very strong wind" across the North East was in place for much of Friday but has been lifted.

Northern Powergrid, which provides power to 3.9 million homes, said the "severe weather" had had an "impact".

Train companies have also warned of delays and cancellations and the A1(M) near Darlington has been closed in both directions due to overturned vehicles.

Durham Police said no-one had been injured.

Hundreds of homes in the Otterburn and Wallington areas of Northumberland are showing as having no power while there are also outages near Stanley and Crook in County Durham, Stapleton near Darlington and in the Washington area.

Some have been warned power was not likely to be restored until Saturday.

Northern Powergrid said about 21,000 customers had been affected across the north of England and Yorkshire.

It added it was "pushing to restore power" to the final 1,700 customers still affected and was "confident" all will be restored by 23:00 GMT.

The storm also brought disruption to Yorkshire.

BBC Weather Watcher Superted captured Storm Otto's visit to South Gare in Redcar

A Northern Powergrid spokesman said: "Our teams have been mobilised in readiness to restore supplies as safely and quickly as possible however, our team's ability to work at height will be impacted until the high winds have passed.

"If you are in a dangerous situation, medically dependant on electricity or require any additional support contact our team direct on 105."

A yellow wind warning was in place from Northumberland to Teesside until 14:00 GMT

LNER cancelled a number of services due to "severe weather" while there were also major issues around Darlington after a van hit a rail bridge.

British Transport Police said they were called to the crash at about 08:45 GMT and there were no injuries, with damage to the bridge to be "assessed by the train operator".

High winds brought down a tree at Whitburn cricket ground

TransPennine Express has warned passengers to check the status of their trains before travelling with reduced speeds operating between Berwick and Edinburgh.

Fleet director Paul Staples said: "Our number one priority is to keep our customers and colleagues safe, and we will be doing all we can to keep people moving in difficult conditions.

"We are urging anyone travelling across the affected routes to plan ahead and follow the guidance provided."

Jenny Prendergast found a shed and lawnmower had been blown into her Darlington garden

Northern said services on all lines had "to run at reduced speed" because of high winds between Carlisle and Middlesbrough, which caused delays.

The Metro station at Whitley Bay has been closed until at least Wednesday while engineers carry out an inspection after a glass panel fell from the roof, and the Shields Ferry has been suspended due to "high winds".

Trains will pass through Whitley Bay without stopping, with passengers advised to use Cullercoats or Monkseaton.

The Met Office also said there was a danger of large waves on the North Sea coast "as well as a chance of some damage to buildings and infrastructure".

The storm, the first to be named this winter, has been labelled Otto by the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI).