ELECTRICITY North West engineers are on standby in preparation for heavy thundery showers this weekend.

This morning the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for the North West for Saturday.

In response Electricity North West, the region’s power network operator, said it was closely monitoring the weather and has engineers on standby to help restore power and repair weather related damage to the overhead power lines and underground cables.

"We work hard throughout the year maintaining and upgrading the network, but unfortunately overhead power lines can be damaged by high winds or lightening and underground electricity cables can be damaged by severe flooding," said Susan Stockwell, customer director at Electricity North West.

"We want to remind our customers that we are on hand 24/7 and we will be closely monitoring the weather in the run up to the weekend."

The weather warning, which is in place from 1am until midnight on Saturday, is for torrential downpours with frequent lightning, hail, strong gusts and potential flooding.

The Met Office's Chief Forecaster said: "Following a build of very warm and humid air at the end of this week there is the potential for the development of intense thunderstorms over the UK from Friday night.

"In this situation large amounts of energy are available in the atmosphere and this coupled with high moisture content can lead to torrential downpours along with frequent lightning activity, large hail and locally strong gusts.

"In this situation many elements need to come together at the same time to form these thunderstorms and so there remains large uncertainty in their development. Indeed, the risk has been extended further west for this update, with further updates in the coming days."

To report a power cut or damage to the power network please call us on 0800 195 4141, follow us @ElectricityNW or visit www.enwl.co.uk.