Hundreds of homes in the south west were still without power on Monday, after heavy storms lashed the region at the weekend.

The gales brought down power lines and at one point 25,000 properties in Devon were left without electricity.

Engineers from Western Power are continuing work to repair the damage.

In the Exeter area an estimated 700 homes are still without electricity.

Efforts to reconnect power to almost 200 Cornish homes in the Bodmin and Redruth areas are also underway.

Major repairs

Alison Sleightholm, Western Power's business support manager said: "We have had some major repairs to do, some quite difficult repairs, but with the way the weather is we should be able to sort out those customers today."

The weekend's winds caused chaos on the roads and railways and to ferry and air services.

But the gales eased overnight and rail companies and airlines say most services are now running, although many are subject to delays.

During the weekend Devon and Cornwall Police received more than 800 calls from people relating to the severe weather conditions.

Fisherman

On Friday night a huge rescue operation was launched when a Cypriot-registered cargo vessel got into difficulties 35 miles off Start Point.

And an injured fisherman was winched to safety after a seven hour rescue effort to remove him from a boat 170 miles off the Isles of Scilly.

Transport services were also disrupted with restrictions imposed on the Tamar Bridge because of cross winds of 70 mph.