North East clean-up is under way after Storm Aileen eases

A CLEAN-UP operation is under way after torrential downpours and strong winds battered the North East.

Storm Aileen, the first named storm this season, brought powerful winds of up to 75mph to some parts of the UK on Tuesday evening.

Northern Powergrid – which covers the North East, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire – said 7,400 homes had lost power overnight.

On Wednesday morning, flooding on the A19 near Testos Roundabout and the A690 in Durham caused delays for rush-hour commuters.

After the storm eased, the Environment Agency’s teams were out in force cleaning up debris across the region.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We were expecting strong winds and heavy rain across the North East as Storm Aileen approached so closely monitored the situation. Overnight, two flood alerts were issued on the Upper Tees and South Tyne.

“We also had teams at the ready to take action if necessary, such as clearing debris from screens.

“Fortunately, there were no significant impacts and our operations teams were out on the ground checking screens and clearing debris as needed, including one in Chester-le-Street.”

At its height, the Met Office said gusts of 75mph hit parts of Wales and southern parts of northern England.

On its website, National Rail said falling trees and large branches, power cuts and debris blown on to the tracks had caused difficulties.

Storm Aileen has now eased and the Met Office said the worst of the weather is behind us.

A Met Office spokesman said: “At the moment, it looks as though the there are going to be some coastal showers in the North East at the weekend – some could be reasonably heavy on the east coast in particular. It will also be quite breezy, but in between these showers there will be brighter periods.

“Sunday looks slightly better than Saturday, but by the nature of these showers, they can pop up anywhere. However, it will certainly be less windy on Sunday.

“Temperature-wise, we are looking at around 14C or 15C on Saturday and a wider range of 11C-16C on Sunday.”

“There are brighter prospects for Monday. It is looking as though those showers will move away to reveal quite bright conditions.

“Temperatures have a possibility of getting into the values of the high teens.”