Thousands of homes are still without power after Storm Gerrit wreaked havoc across northern England and Scotland.

The chaotic weather has delivered everything from heavy snow to a damaging tornado, ruining many people’s journeys home from Christmas festivities.

Around 1,500 properties in Scotland are still suffering electricity outages, with people in the northeast and Shetland among the worst affected.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) hopes to restore power to the remaining households on Friday and welfare vans serving hot food and drink will be open to customers in the meantime.

‘Absolute disaster’

The storm is also still being felt in northern England and Wales.

Stalybridge, Tameside, and Carrbrook in Greater Manchester are in a “recovery phase”, local authorities have said, after they were hit by a rare tornado that toppled trees and damaged homes.

The freak whirlwind was thought to have been caused by a supercell thunderstorm, and residents said it had left some homes looking like “an absolute disaster”.

Elsewhere, three men died after their 4×4 vehicle was submerged in the River Esk, near Glaisdale.

In Wales, 36,000 properties were left without power after lightning struck in Ceredigion.

Travel disruption set to continue

Storm Gerrit brought chaos to roads, railway lines, airports, and ferry services nationwide earlier in the week – and the disruption isn’t over as the weekend beckons.

The Met Office has said the final days of 2023 will see more strong wind, rain, and snow, though there are no weather warnings in place.

But the Environment Agency has 33 active flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, covering rivers including the Severn and Ouse.

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ScotRail, LNER, Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway are among the train companies to have told passengers they should check before travelling in the coming days.

While many lines have reopened since the storm blew through, services could still be suspended or cancelled due to system faults and damage.

The London Euston and Watford Junction lines are not expected to be fully online until the end of Friday, while Welsh train services are expected to be hampered until Monday.

Ferries are also still expecting trouble, with journeys between Dover and France impacted by wind.