You may have seen that Storm Ciara is on the way and we are likely to see high winds and heavy rain across the East of England and South East this weekend.

Our electricity network is built to be resilient but extreme weather can damage overhead power lines resulting in some customers losing their electricity supply.  Where this happens we work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, and we have organised for additional staff in our contact centre and more engineers on the ground to be available to help customers whose electricity supply might be affected by the predicted weather.

Both you and your constituents will be able to find regular updates on our website www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk and social media @UKPowerNetworks throughout this period.

Anyone experiencing a power cut should:

·         Call 105 to report power cuts and damage to the electricity network, or 0800 3163 105 (from a corded phone or mobile phone if you have no power)

·         Visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk for the latest updates

·         Visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/powercut and type in their postcode to view our live power cut map

·         Tweet @ukpowernetworks to report a power cuts or to receive updates

We advise people to stay clear of power lines and report damaged power lines immediately by calling 105 free from either a landline or a mobile phone. If they see electricity lines that are down or causing significant risk to the public they should call 999.

We provide extra help to customers on our Priority Service Register during a power cut.  Households with older or disabled people, those with children under five, or where someone uses medical or mobility equipment that requires electricity as well as other reasons can join the register.  You can find out more information about our Priority Service on our website: ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority.

If you would like to share information about preparing for the storm or the priority service register on social media you might like to use the following:

As a result of #stormciara, heavy rain and high winds are due to arrive this weekend. @UKPowerNetworks has extra staff and engineers on hand. Call 105 to report a powercut and visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/powercut for the latest updates #ukpnnews

Do you, or someone you know, need extra support during a power cut?

@UKPowerNetworks provides free services to vulnerable customers. Visit ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority for more information #stormciara #ukpnnews