Storm Bella causes swathe of power cuts

Hundreds of homes across Norfolk have been left without power on Boxing Day as high winds from Storm Bella caused dozens of cuts.

UK Power Networks said it had received hundreds of customer calls from Norfolk residents on Saturday as the blustery weather caused problems for their electricity supply network.

In Downham Market, 224 homes were left without power from just before 3pm due to an overhead network fault.

Also in west Norfolk, a fault on the underground network caused damage to substation equipment near Walpole St Peter, just east of Wisbech, forcing UK Power Networks to send a specialist team to dig down to expose cabling for repairs.

While there are two current power issues on the north Norfolk coast, the majority of the problems are affecting central and south Norfolk. As of 5pm, there were 16 active power cuts in those areas, with 19 more in northern Suffolk and Waveney.

It comes just days after areas of central and south Norfolk were the worst hit by heavy rain and flash flooding on December 23, which left areas like Long Stratton having to deal with several inches of standing water.

The arrival of Storm Bella to the region saw the Met Office declare a yellow weather warning for wind, while the government's flood information service has put eight flood warnings and a further 15 flood alerts in place.

The Met Office said that winds in the region could hit 70mph, and added that there could be injuries and danger to life from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties as well as some damage to buildings, which could include tiles being blown from roofs.