Engineers from Electricity North West are continuing to respond to damage on the network following severe flooding across Greater Manchester.

Teams from the power network operator have battled ‘treacherous conditions’ and are continuing to work with local emergency responders to gain access to sites which have been submerged with flood water.

Thanks to its investment in technology, 90% of the 16,700 properties affected since New Year’s Eve had power restored within three minutes by rerouting supplies.

Just over 750 properties remain without power, the vast majority of those are in the most severely flooded areas of Platt Bridge, Hyde, Stockport and Didsbury with access to sites proving incredibly difficult.

Richard Moulton, incident manager at Electricity North West, said: “The conditions we’ve seen across Greater Manchester are some of the worst we’ve ever experienced.

“Mass flooding has caused extensive damage to the power network, customers’ properties and the highways.

“Despite this, we’ve made huge progress and repair work is continuing to happen as we gain access to more sites.

“We understand this has been an incredibly difficult time for those affected and I want to thank customers’ for the kind words and colleagues who have worked through these treacherous conditions.”

Electricity North West’s customer contact centre has handled more than 2,000 calls and also made close to 2,000 proactive calls to those customers in greatest need.

Door knockers remain on site in Platt Bridge, Hyde, Stockport and Didsbury and regular, localised updates are being provided.

Electricity North West is also providing welfare facilities for those without power at:

• The Coffee Shop, 2a Garswood Street, Ashton in Makerfield, WN4 9AF
• McDonald’s, Taberner Street, Off Liverpool Road, Platt Bridge, Wigan WN2 5BD
• The Red Lion Wilmslow Road, Withington, Manchester M20 4BT

Advice for those affected has also been provided:

• Make sure any appliances or electrical equipment is switched off.
• Turn off your power supply by the isolator switch but only if it's safe to do so.
• Do not touch any electricity points when standing in water.
• Check any elderly or sick neighbours or relatives to make sure they are safe.

After a flood:

• If your supply is still on or has been underwater and comes back on, contact a qualified electrician.
• If your meter point has been underwater or still have no electricity please contact Electricity North West on 105 or report a power cut for us to do a safety check.
• If you can smell smoke or you are in any doubt, contact a qualified electrician or contact Electricity North West on 105.

As teams continue to respond to flood damage, Electricity North West is also ramping up its preparations for snow and ice as forecasters from the Met Office have issued yellow weather warnings for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Several centimetres of snow is expected to fall across the region from Saturday evening which will later develop into snow showers on Sunday morning.

Hundreds of colleagues across its operational and customer departments will be on standby with many others enacting their incident roles.

“Preparations are well underway for the cold weather which we’re expecting to hit the region this weekend,” added Moulton.

“We’re constantly monitoring several weather forecasts to ensure we’re ready to respond at the earliest and safest opportunity.

“As well as snow, the freezing conditions can sometimes cause icing on overhead lines which can, on some occasions, lead to power cuts.

“Should anybody experience a power cut or see any damage to the network, we ask them to stay clear and please call us directly on 105.”

Customers are reminded that should they need any additional support, they can visit www.enwl.co.uk/ExtraCare or call directly on 105.