HUNDREDS of homes in Belton, Bradwell and Burgh Castle have lost power as severe gales hit the borough. Rain and fierce winds are hitting parts of the UK, as what could be winter's worst storm moves in from the Atlantic.

POLICE closed part of St Nicholas Road in Great Yarmouth this morning after a petrol station sign had broken due to high winds.

Firefighters were called to the Jet petrol station at about 9.16am and removed the sign using an aerial ladder.

A lorry was blown over by a fierce gust of wind while travelling along the A47 Acle Straight this morning.

Emergency services were called to the scene at about 10.30am but luckily the driver had managed to escape without serious injuries.

The lorry, which was travelling to Yarmouth, was blown off the roadway two miles from the town.

Police said the incident caused minimal disruption.

Hundreds of homes in Belton, Bradwell and Burgh Castle have lost power as severe gales hit the borough.

Rain and fierce winds are hitting parts of the UK, as what could be winter's worst storm moves in from the Atlantic.

At about 8.50am an overhead line was damaged near Burgh Castle causing about 2,000 homes to lose electricity.

Power has been restored to more than 1,000 shortly afterwards but 945 households remain currently off supply.

A spokeswoman for EDF Energy said: “We have been closely monitoring the forecasts and activated the early stages of our emergency plan on Friday.

“We have arranged for additional staff to be on standby covering engineering, technical and call centre roles should there be a lot of damage due to the bad weather.”

Winds are predicted to reach up to 70mph which could see more damage to overhead power lines.

“It is not safe for our staff to work on overhead lines at the peak of the storm, but we have extra resources on standby if needed for as soon as it is safe to start work,” added the spokeswoman.

If damage to power lines is severe, people should stay clear and call the power cut helpline on 0800 783 8838.

The Environment Agency has urged people to stay away from coastal areas as the storm brings the risk of high waves and flooding.

John Law from Weatherquest said: “The wind and rain will be strongest around the first part of the morning between midnight and 9am. It will continue into Tuesday morning, with a bit of a respite during Tuesday afternoon.”

Although the predicted bad weather from the south west coincides with the Spring high tides along the Norfolk and Suffolk shoreline, coastguards said they are not expecting any problems with flooding.

The coastguard said that normally only winds coming in from the North would affect the North Sea from Hunstanton to Southwold and cause flooding at exceptionally high tides.

There are no contingencies plans in place and no flood warnings have been issued.

Do you have any pictures of wind damage? Email them to anne.edwards@archant.co.uk.