Thousands of homes across the county have woken up without electricity following widespread power cuts as a result of the overnight weather.

Following gusts of around 70mph overnight, UK Power Networks has been left with a lengthy list of areas in need of restoring, with the cuts spread out widely across the county.

Area worst affected include Aylsham, where there are around 600 homes without power, Thetford, where there are around 400 and Sheringham where there are around 250.

Other areas include Horstead, which has 463 homes reported in the NR12 7 postcode zone and the Costessey/Queens Hill area which has 558 households affected, while UK Power Networks continues to assess the numbers cut off in other parts of the county.

The faults have largely been caused by issues with overhead power lines as a result of the torrential conditions overnight, which have also left Norfolk’s roads “cluttered with debris”, with winds bringing down more than 200 trees according to Norfolk Constabulary. A UK Power Networks spokesman said: “Our engineers are working hard to get power back on in Norfolk.”