Thousands of homes still without power after Storm Eunice as Storm Franklin hits the East of England

The East of England is facing another day of disruption as Storm Franklin makes its way across the region.

Some 2,500 properties across the East of England are still without power with engineers trying to reconnect them after Storm Eunice.

Mark Adolphus, director of safety at UK Power Networks, said: "The reality is that since Storm Eunice struck, we've seen twice the number of faults we would normally see in a typical month in just the last three days.

"I've had teams out there working round the clock to make hundreds if not thousands of repairs and get our customers back on supply just as soon as possible."

As of 3pm on Monday, the following number of properties remain without power, including:

• Essex 900

• Suffolk 1,300

• Norfolk 200

UK Power Networks said it hoped to get the majority of those homes reconnected on Monday, but warned it "could be hampered by Franklin".

It also announced that it would be making early compensation payouts to customers, reducing the qualifying period without power from 48 hours to 24 hours.

UK Power Networks said it would be in touch with everyone who is entitled to a payment by text message, email or letter in the coming day.

A yellow weather warning is in place covering the East of England until 3pm on Monday.

Further periods of strong winds are expected which may cause some disruption, the Met office said:

• Some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen, along with trees/branches being brought down;

• Road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible;

• Some roads and bridges may close;

• Power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage;

• Injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.

Travel disruption

Train operators are warning customers to "avoid travel if possible" as the rail network continues the clear up from storm Eunice.

Greater Anglia, LNER, CrossCountry and Thameslink all said there could be disruption at short notice.

As of 10.30am Monday, services have been suspended between Colchester and Chelmsford because of a tree falling onto overhead lines, said Greater Anglia.

Greater Anglia say the tree which fell on to the overhead electric wires near Colchester has been safely removed. The fallen tree meant the 9am Liverpool St to Ipswich train "had to be evacuated, with the train being rescued by another train, to clear the line," Greater Anglia said.

As of 2.30pm on Monday Greater Anglia services were also suspended between Ipswich and London Liverpool Street due to high winds.

For people due to fly from Stansted Airport the advice is to check with their airline first and allow plenty of time to get there because of disruption to transport.

On the roads

The QE2 Bridge remains closed on Monday due to high winds, but the Orwell Bridge in Suffolk is open but with a reduced speed limit.