Storm Malik has brought high winds and dangerous conditions causing power cuts to more than 6,000 properties in the North West, mainly in Cumbria.

Engineers have restored power to 5,000 but some properties, which were also affected during Storm Arwen in November, are without power again with trees falling on powerlines causing outages.

Engineers from Electricity North West are assessing the damage and making repairs where it is safe to do so, but the continuing high winds are making it unsafe for overhead lines teams to climb in some areas. The network operator says it could be Sunday before all properties are restored.

Customer Director, Steph Trubshaw, said: “These high winds have been sustained for a few hours and have caused some damage across the region, mainly in Cumbria. Trees that were perhaps weakened by Storm Arwen have now caused damage to overhead lines in some areas and our teams are out there doing all they can.

“Because of the conditions it is likely to be tomorrow (Sunday) before we will be able to reconnect all properties but I assure customers that our preparations have meant we have teams on the ground to get power back on as soon as we possibly can.”

If anyone sees any damage to the network they are advised to stay away and report it to Electricity North West on freephone 105. You can also call 105 for updates, go to www.enwl.co.uk or see the company’s updates on social media.