Northern Powergrid: Up to five more days until power fully restored

It will be a "few" days before full power supply returns to the region, Northern Powergrid have announced.

The electricity distributor said on Friday afternoon they had "700 jobs to complete", some of which are scheduled to take place as late as Wednesday 8 December.

On Friday evening they said 5,100 homes and businesses are still without supply a week after Storm Arwen struck.

This figure is down from roughly 250,000 homes initially cut off by the storm, a reduction of 97%.

A week on from Arwen: the latest numbers

The remaining homes are situated largely in rural parts of Northumberland, County Durham and Tyne and Wear.

One hundred troops have been deployed to provide relief to those worst affected in County Durham, where a major incident was declared on Thursday.

Northumberland County Council followed suit by a declaring a major incident on Friday and said military support had been agreed.

Arwen aftermath: Military arrive in North East to provide relief
Storm Arwen: Major incident declared in Northumberland

In an interview with ITV News Tyne Tees, Jim Cardwell of Northern Powergrid said: "We’re working on the final 6,000 customers now and of that the bulk of those are in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham.

"A number of our people who are not on supply yet are going to be going through for a few more days yet."

Asked why 6,000 homes are still without power, Mr Cardwell pointed to the storm's severity.

“The storm caused unprecedented damage in many respects," he said.

Mr Cardwell went on to say his company is offering “welfare support” including hot meals and accommodation. 

In a statement, Northern Powergrid said:

We know how challenging the situation is for everyone – and particularly challenging for some of our customers. We will continue to provide additional support as we have been doing this week. We will be compensating those customers who have been without power for over 48 hours. Additionally,

  • We will provide financial assistance to any domestic customer who was still off supply on 29th November 2021 or later and who needs our help.

  • This will include the reasonable costs of alternative accommodation and food (up to £15 per person per meal). We will also contribute to other reasonably incurred costs; for example where a customer arranges for their own back-up generator.

  • We will consider each customer’s circumstances on a case-by-case basis. All of our vulnerable customers will be eligible.

  • Customers who require assistance should email: and we will be in contact as quickly as we can to agree how we can help them.