Storm Arwen: Thousands of homes still without power

The storm may have died down, but its impact is still being felt across Scotland and north east England.

Over the weekend, Storm Arwen's high winds reached nearly 100 miles per hour, damaging power lines, buildings and roads.

And while many have now had their power restored, tens of thousands of people in remote and rural areas are still waiting to be reconnected.

The government says that engineers are working hard to reconnect people to the network, but some say that not enough support is being offered.

On Tuesday, energy provider SSEN shared that it had been able to reconnect 115,000 homes but 9,500 remained without power across north east Scotland.

Firefighters attending a tree that fell across a road

And it's thought that as many as 21,000 homes in the north of England are still waiting for their power to be reconnected.

Power outages are common following stormy weather - high winds can damage power lines - meaning repairs are needed before electricity can be reconnected.

But with some homes, schools and offices still waiting for power, there have been calls on the government and energy networks to do more to support those in need.

Conservative MP Richard Holden said a rural surgery in his North West Durham constituency "lost £10,000 worth of vaccines for the flu jab" because the fridges storing them had no power.

And Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron said some of his constituents have been told it will be another week before their power comes back on, and encouraged the government to send in the Army to help.

Falling trees have caused damage to power lines and roads

What has the response from electricity networks been?

Northern Powergrid, which manages the electricity grid in the north east of England, said it could offer some compensation to customers for the hours they are without power.

Scottish Power Energy Networks says it is working "tirelessly" to fix the issues, and has been providing "hot food and drinks and hotels" as well as "generators" to customers most in need.

The Energy Networks Association said electricity has been restored to 97% of those affected but it will be at least the end of the week - seven days after the storm - before it is back on for a minority.

A spokesperson said: "Supporting and reconnecting customers is our absolute priority and our customer teams are working around the clock to contact customers and keep them informed."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the government is working hard to restore power

What has the government's response been?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he felt "extremely empathetic" to all those without power still.

"I want to reassure everybody that we're working as hard as we can to get power back to those homes," he told reporters on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the UK government's Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, says 95% of people who had lost power because of Storm Arwen at the weekend, have now had it restored.

He acknowledged that many are still without electricity, but promised to do everything possible to restore power to every home before Christmas.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has promised to get power back to every home before Christmas

"I have been assured that the overwhelming majority of those still without power today will be restored in the next day or two." he told members of the House of Commons.

In response to a question from the opposition party about the impact of climate change on UK weather, Mr Kwarteng said, "Clearly, Storm Arwen was an event the likes of which we haven't seen for certainly 60 years since the record starts.

"We have to be prepared for similarly extreme difficult weather conditions in the future. We have to make sure that our system is resilient in that eventuality."