STORM Deirdre caused dangerous road conditions and power cuts across Tynedale at the weekend.

And freezing rain, normally a rare phenomenon in the UK, caused widespread black ice on pavements and roads, with the rain freezing on impact

Meanwhile Northern Powergrid said the rain and severe gales caused ice to stick to overhead lines, and brought down trees and branches causing further damage to the network.

Homes in Allendale and the surrounding areas were affected by power cuts and Northern Powergrid said treacherous road conditions in some rural areas made getting to the faults challenging.

But engineers worked to restore supplies overnight and into Sunday morning – with some work including on around 30 homes in Allendale – continuing into Monday.

Paul Simpkin, Northern Powergrid’s network operations manager, said: “Weather such as this can cause significant impact to our network, not to mention travel and access issues due to the icy conditions.

“We’d like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding during this period of severe weather.”