THE Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for severe gales and a yellow warning for snow to hit the North West later this week.

A deep low pressure system developing in the Atlantic Ocean is expected to track across Northern Ireland, northern England and Scotland on Thursday.

Named Storm Doris, it will bring strong winds of up to 80 mph, heavy rain and some snow at higher levels.

In response, Electricity North West, the region’s power network operator, has drafted in extra engineers to help keep the lights on and repair any potential damage caused by Storm Doris.

Mark Williamson, operations director at Electricity North West, said: “We are closely monitoring the weather and we’re taking extra measures to get ready for Storm Doris in case severe gales hit our region. 

“We work hard throughout the year maintaining and upgrading the network, but unfortunately overhead power lines can be damaged by flying debris in high winds.

“We invest around £130m every year and actively manage and cut back around 400,000 trees near our lines every year, which does reduce the risk of outages, but we are still prepared and we are here 24 hours day seven days a week if you need any advice or information.”

Electricity North West’s partners, the British Red Cross are also on standby to offer extra support to customers.

Customers, including some older or disabled people, or those with a medical dependency on electricity, can also sign up to the Priority Services Register by visiting www.enwl.co.uk/priority or contacting Electricity North West on the new national number 105 or 0800 195 4141.

For advice on how to be prepared and stay safe visit http://www.enwl.co.uk/power-cuts/dealing-with-power-cuts

To report a power cut call the new national number 105 or follow @ElectricityNW or visit www.electricitynorthwest.co.uk.