Engineers preparing for the worst, if Storm Malik hits the region hard

Strong winds are set to hit the North West over the weekend after a Met Office yellow weather warning and the naming of Storm Malik by the Danish met service.

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: “Our preparations for the weekend’s weather were already underway prior to the naming of Storm Malik.

“Heading into the weekend, we 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.”

Late last year, the UK was hit by one of the worst storms it has ever seen in Storm Arwen.

Electricity North West restored 18,000 customers within just three minutes, and 90% of customers within 48 hours. 93,000 North West properties were affected out of one million across the UK.

Sam Loukes added: “We prepare year-round for bad weather, cutting back trees from lines and managing the network so that we can get people back on quickly if there are issues. “As they always do, during storms, our teams of engineers work tirelessly often in extremely difficult conditions to carry out repairs and restore power.

“People were incredibly helpful throughout Arwen reporting damage so that we could prioritise repairs. If people do see damage to the power network because of Storm Malik this weekend, firstly, they must stay away and then immediately call us on 105.”

As part of the yellow weather warning, experts from the Met Office say 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.

Electricity North West offers extra support to customers through their Priority Services Register. For more information and to register visit www.enwl.co.uk/priority.

Customers can stay safe and prepare themselves in the event of potential power cuts by following the simple advice here www.enwl.co.uk/power-cuts/helpful-tips.

You can see how Electricity North West prepares the network throughout the year by watching this video.

For more information about Electricity North West, please visit www.enwl.co.uk.