Electricity North West preparing for two storms this week
Storms Dudley and Eunice are on their way
Engineers from Electricity North West are on standby after the Met Office named Storms Dudley and Eunice.
Yellow and Amber weather warnings are in place from Wednesday afternoon as forecasters are predicting strong winds and potentially some snow for the region.
Electricity North West is putting plans in place to monitor the network and ensure supplies and teams are available to respond if the storm causes damage to overhead lines.
Sam Loukes, incident manager for Electricity North West, said: “We’ve been monitoring the weather for several days and started to plan ahead of the naming of Storms Dudley and Eunice.
“The forecast is for extremely strong winds and throughout the week, we’ll have local teams on standby and they’ll be ready to respond quickly, our customer team will also be available for support and we’ll be providing regular updates through our social media channels and website.”
Last month, Electricity North West restored power to more than 8,000 properties following damage caused by Storm Malik.
Sam Loukes added: “Our preparations for bad weather never stop. “Our teams of tree cutters work year-round engaging with landowners for permission to cut back trees from overhead lines to reduce the chance of swaying branches causing power cuts in stormy weather.
“While we do as much as we can, falling trees and other debris can still cause damage to the network. If people do see damage to the power network because of Storms Dudley and Eunice this week, firstly, they must stay away as equipment could still be live, and then immediately call us on 105 so we can make the area safe.”
As part of the amber weather warning, experts from the Met Office say that people should expect fallen trees and that there is a good chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.
You can view any live power cut information in the region on Electricity North West’s website here, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or by calling for free on 105 from any phone.