Up to 40,000 properties were left without power in the north-east of England due to violent storms.

Northern Powergrid said affected customers in County Durham, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland had supplies restored by late on Thursday night.

Thankfully there were no reported injuries although some properties did receive lightning strike damage and some vehicles were damaged by hailstones the size of golf-balls.

A spokesman for Northern Powergrid commented: “The storms caused damage to the overhead electricity network and resulted in power cuts for around 40,000 customers… We diverted electricity supplies, where possible, through alternative routes to restore power to as many customers as possible while engineers worked to repair the damage…Our engineers are continuing their work to restore the remaining customers still affected.”

Freak weather is increasing common in the UK. Your own power protection system for your business or operations will ensure the lights don’t go out next time you get a violent storm.

For the full story, click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-33359066