Roads blocked by trees and flooding as storm hits

Flooding and trees toppled by Storm Boelo are making the roads more dangerous, police have warned, while many households are without power.

Cumbria Police has asked people to plan their journeys safely as trees, debris and surface water are impacting conditions across the county, while Electricity North West said it was working to restore the power to thousands of homes.

An amber weather warning for strong winds is in place until 21:00 GMT, according to the Met Office, with speeds approaching 78mph at St Bees Head earlier.

An amber road alert issued by National Highways for strong winds remains in place until 16:00 today, affecting north-east England and Cumbria.

The worst impacted areas for power outages in Cumbria include Allerdale, Copeland and South Lakeland.

Meanwhile Northern Powergrid said at 09:00 GMT thousands of people were without power across the North East and Yorkshire, but the severity of the weather was affecting its ability to assess and carry out repairs safely.

The worst affected areas are in Northumberland and County Durham.

Maryport Rescue said it was in Workington overnight handing out flood sacks, after the sea overtopped there.

It said it was called to Comma Close by the police, just after midnight because of an imminent risk of flooding.

Cumbria Police said it was receiving a high volume of calls due to the weather.

It said road conditions might change rapidly, but the A591 between Ambleside and Windermere had multiple fallen trees blocking the way, as did the A593 at Skelwith Bridge.

The force also said Calder Bridge to Sellafield Road was flooded and not passable and the A595, between Bigrigg and Whitehaven, had a fallen tree blocking the road.

Police also asked people to avoid the A596 between Siddick and Northside in Workington due to metal roof sheeting blowing off the petrol station at Dunmail Park.

The force pointed people to its website for the latest traffic information.

The A66 is closed in both directions between the A67 near Bowes in County Durham and the A685 near Brough, Cumbria, due to strong winds - a section of road almost 15 miles (24 km) long.

National Highways' amber alert said higher routes across Durham and Northumberland were most vulnerable, as well as exposed western and elevated routes across Cumbria.

The Tyne and Wear Metro also warned of delays as it had to suspend its service between Monument and South Shields in both directions, due to obstructions on the overhead line at Felling and Hebburn.

The Shields Ferry is also suspended for all of Sunday.

A number of visitor attractions are closed due to the weather, including National Trust sites Gibside, Cragside, and Seaton Delaval Hall.

Beamish Museum in Stanley, County Durham, is also shut.

Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.