Warm spaces offered as hundreds left without power
PA MediaWarm spaces were offered to hundreds of people whose homes were left without power as high winds from Storm Bram battered Cumbria.
About 750 properties were experiencing power cuts on Wednesday, according to SP Electricity North West, which supplies the region.
Areas affected were scattered around the county, with larger clusters around Penrith and the North Lakes area, Wigton, Aspatria and Gosforth. "It's all weather related, it was incredibly windy last night, particularly in the North Lakes area," a spokesman said.
Most properties had their power returned by 15:30 GMT.
About 115 homes lost power from about 16:00 on Tuesday, with a further 300 homes hit from about 21:00.
Warm spaces were set up at:
- The Old Bank Tea Rooms in Aspatria
- Watch Tree Nature Reserve near Carlisle
- Barrista Cafe in Wigton
- The Crown Inn in Pooley Bridge
- Redby Coffee in Maryport
A spokesman for SP North West said the venues were offering "a warm space, phone charging and warm drinks and food" to support areas affected by the power cuts.
Engineers carried out repairs, with some having worked through the night.
The county was covered by a yellow wind warning until 06:00, meaning engineers were unable to work at height in some areas where winds made doing so unsafe.
SP Electricity North West said extra resources had been drafted in to work on repairing faults quickly.
