Waves crashed over the harbour wall in Dover during the storm

About 1,600 homes in areas including Tunbridge Wells, Sittingbourne, Strood and Penshurst suffered blackouts.

EDF Energy said extra staff had been drafted in to restore power supplies after the storms wreaked havoc across the South East.

A spokeswoman said its priority was to restore supplies as soon as possible.

But she said it was not possible to predict when the power would be fully restored.

Operation Stack

Some residents in parts of West Sussex, supplied by Scottish and Southern Energy, are also without power.

A spokeswoman said there had been "significant damage" to its network which was affecting customers across the whole of its region.

Meanwhile, motorists in Kent also faced disruption on Friday.

Operation Stack remained in place on the M20 until lunchtime, allowing lorries to be parked which were unable to cross the Channel.

A seaside shelter was blown over at Hampton, near Herne Bay

Kent County Counci is working to deal with any fallen trees, although motorists are still being urged to take care because of debris on side roads.

Eurostar, which cancelled all services to and from the UK because of severe weather in northern France on Thursday, is now running a full service.

Ferries sailing to and from Dover, and Newhaven, in East Sussex, are also operating a near-normal service.

However, a spokesman for Dover Coastguard said strong wind warnings remained in force until Friday evening.

Southeastern trains reported a series of delays and cancellations to services between London Bridge and Kent stations during the morning rush hour.