Storm Arwen: The Cumbrian community isolated with no power one week on

Sarah Rogers has the latest on Storm Arwen and the damage it's caused to communities in Cumbria.

Hundreds of people in Cumbria are still without power one week after severe weather battered the region.

Village halls have become second homes for those enduring the freezing weather and dark nights as Storm Arwen is dubbed one of the worst in decades.

In Cartmel, residents are relying on community spirit, but after seven nights without electricity their spark has gone.

Jen Airey, a local resident who set up a hub for those affected by the storm, says some people have not yet seen an engineer and they "do not know what to do."

Electricity North West have asked people to visit their website for more information, however Jen says most have next to no signal in such a rural area.

She said: "When the masts have been hit, that cuts us off entirely. There are still people out there now who don't have power.

"There's huge trees on their power lines and nobody has been out to see them yet.

"I understand they're at the end of the power line, they are just one or two houses, but they are elderly, they are vulnerable, they have got young children, they have got animals and livestock.

"We're a week on. They just do not know what to do."

The Red Cross have also been on the ground helping the most vulnerable who have been left in the dark over the last week.

One volunteer said: "We were visiting houses up there and it included one lady who was 83, in a wheelchair and only had one leg, looking after a gentleman who was 91 who had dementia.

"We called in on them and she was coping extremely well, thanks to the help of the local community."

In Scotland and the North East the Army have been drafted in to help.

They will carry out door-to-door visits to check on residents’ wellbeing and ensure that any help and support is provided where needed - but not in the North West.

Cumbrian MP Tim Farron says supplier Electricity North West hope to have the majority of homes back on by tomorrow.

However, local councillor Fiona Hanlon says the biggest problem has been the lack of communication between Electricity North West and the communities in need.

"The helplines and support is just not there so we had to set ourselves up as a hub", she said.

"We had guests at one property where they had live wires across the drive and they were trapped on the other side of them. Nobody came to see them for four days."

Electricity North West have pulled teams from across the country to fix power lines.

They say they have restored power to 117,000 customers which is of little comfort to more than a 1,000 still without power although 200 more generators have been brought in.

In response to the crisis, regulator Ofgem has launched a review into the response of energy network companies and is allowing customers to claim up to £140 per day they are without power.

Steph Trubshaw, Incident Manager, said: “While we’re connecting generators to restore power to the final customers, we’re still carrying out repairs to the main network, so this actually increases our workload in the short term.

"Our teams have worked solidly now for a week in a heroic effort to restore power and are still going – starting before first light and working well in to the dark in very cold and wet conditions."

My property is still without power. Where can I find information?

People without power are encouraged to check www.enwl.co.uk and Electricity North West’s social media channels for updates.

For more information about the location of food vans, visit www.enwl.co.uk/StormArwen.