Electricity companies are still battling to restore power to thousands of homes following the storms which ripped across Wales and the rest of the UK at the weekend.

Engineers from Scotland and Ireland have been drafted in to help deal with the backlog which is mainly affecting homes and businesses in mid and north Wales.

We are working flat out, importing staff to deal with 68,000 calls from the public

Western Power Distribution

About 6,000 Manweb Scottish Power customers in mid and north Wales still remain without power, after thousands of properties had supplies restored on Tuesday morning.

Teams of workers laboured through the night to reconnect them. Worst-hit areas are Caernarfon, Delyn and Meirionydd Nant Conwy.

Properties which are still cut off are spread right across the region, with the Lleyn Peninsula, Dolgellau and parts of the Conwy Valley most badly affected.

The company said it hoped to restore electricity to the vast majority of homes by 2200 GMT on Tuesday.

It also said it prioritises the way it deals with calls if people are believed to be particularly vulnerable.

However, a spokesman said sometimes it was not feasible to get power restiored quickly to vulnerable people in isolated areas.

In those cases, social services were asked to help by providing assistance and even alternative accommodation.

Energy firm Western Power Distribution, which services south and west Wales, said on Tuesday just hundreds of its customers were waiting for reconnection.

Meanwhile, the country is on alert for more heavy rain is forecast to follow the gusts of almost 100mph which hit the country on Saturday night and Sunday.

Busiest day

Police named the driver who was killed after a heavy tree branch fell on his car as he was travelling on the A40 between Brecon and Crickhowell on Sunday as Reginald Pugh, 66, from Brecon, Powys.

The death was one of around 500 emergency calls Dyfed-Powys Police said it dealt with during the day, making it their busiest day ever.

The Environment Agency said there was one flood warning in place in Wales on Tuesday - in the Lower Dee Valley from Llangollen to Chester.

There are also six flood watches in place. following further heavy rain predicted for Tuesday.

One driver was killed as trees were uprooted

Rail services were starting to return to normal again, although some intercity services from south Wales have been hit.

Flights have also resumed at Cardiff International Airport where four light aircraft were reduced to insurance write-offs after they were flipped over at the height of the winds which topped 96.6mph at Mumbles near Swansea.

E-mail BBC News Online to share your experiences and frustrations after Wales' weekend gales.

I had a power cut in Ystradgynlais, Powys during the storms. It only took me three minutes to get through to Western Power Distribution, and they had an engineer out to us in just two hours, we were restored in just four hours, I thought they were very efficient, and their customer service advisors were very helpful.
Jean, Powys , Wales

As usual in these conditions we were without power for most of the day, while four miles away the nearest town was OK. Luckily, we still have a coal fired heater and use bottled gas for cooking so we can survive for a few months!
Tony Smith, South Wales

It is a sad fact that we are so dependent upon technology that a little wind and rain can cripple us. Thirty five years ago, we sent a man to the moon. Currently we would be lucky to send him from Cardiff to London by train, and have him arrive there within one hour of the advertised time. As for electricity shortages - this is what comes of streamlining operations in the grand search for more profits. The entire situation needs rectifying very quickly, before something more severe comes along, and we all pay.
Paul, Wales

Fifty four hours without electricity, and no sign of it being restored. Manweb Scottish Power could invest the money they pay the staff who give you absolutely no information, to improve the infrastructure. What a complete waste of a phone call!
Paul Jones, North Wales

Although I have been lucky not to have suffered any damage or power cut since the gales at the weekend, but here in Aberystwyth my Vodafone signal seems to have disappeared for the last three days. This has seriously inconvenienced me. And no sign of it coming back!
Michael, Cymru

Luckily, although power wasn't restored in my family home in mid Wales for some hours, we were able to turn to hydro-power. We have a water turbine at the end of our field and were able to turn it on to give electricity in the house!. My mum and dad lived happily off that over the weekend! I apologise to others that weren't so lucky!
Catrin, Caernarfon, North Wales

Just before the very good "Snowdon Weather Station" web site went off line I was seeing Gust speeds of 103 mph and an average of 74 mph on the mountain. Has the weather station been blown away??
Charles, England

Yet again Wales descends into the Dark Ages despite years of promise from Manweb and now Scottish Power that "improvements" will be made to the infrastructure. At least its Monday and I can get into work - another part of the empire - unaffected by the storms. Why in rural north west Wales do we seem to have power cut after power cut and the rest of the country does not suffer the same misery. It would help if the call centre gave up-to-date information instead of hours old rubbish. The company seem repeatedly to make excuses and blame the weather, whereas other stormy countries have emergency plans to put into place and seem to be able to cope. Mind you there is a new excuse - blaming the clocks going back is a new one - who thought that up?
Brian Charlton, Wales

After 36 hours without electricity, I would like the opportunity to actually speak to someone at Manweb about it, instead of only getting a prerecorded message. Will the contents of my freezer be salvageable, will the electricity be reconnected by tonight, or will it be another night with candles? Some indication of timescales would be appreciated. At least I can come to work today to get some heat and send this
Gillian Anderson, North Wales

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