Storm Arwen: 'Keyboard warriors' not ready for emergency, council told

People in Northumberland are being advised to prepare for more storms this winter

Older people affected by Storm Arwen were better prepared to deal with the aftermath than "younger keyboard warriors," a council meeting has heard.

Winds of up to 98mph (158kmh) caused chaos in November leading to widespread power outages lasting for days in parts of Northumberland.

Residents have been urged to prepare for possible extreme weather this year.

Councillor Colin Horncastle, who represents South Tynedale, added: "There is such a thing as self-help."

Leaflets offering advice on how to prepare for a similar damaging weather event will now be printed.

The Conservative-led Northumberland County Council commissioned a review to work out what could be done to prevent a repeat of the disruption.

A "community resilience" report was put before it on Wednesday - the first in a series of recommendations.

Councillors heard the public needed to do more to prepare for widespread emergencies; particularly those living in rural communities prone to being cut off from services, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Parts of Northumberland, including Kielder Forest, were badly hit

Mr Horncastle, cabinet member for community services, told the meeting there were "an awful lot of people" unprepared for severe weather and "certainly not prepared for a storm".

He said: "The number of people ringing me saying they had no electricity and no way of heating food - what are you doing living here?

"The older generation were far better prepared than the younger keyboard warriors.

"The county council will do anything it can in an emergency, but people need to look after themselves.

"I'm not talking about the vulnerable people, but people have to start thinking about simple things like having a gas camping stove."

In June, power companies were told by the energy regulator they must improve their storm response after Storm Arwen left more than a million UK homes without power.