A major incident was declared and thousands of homes left without power as the North East was battered by a major storm for the second time in just three months.
Storm Malik brought winds of up to 90mph to the North East, causing chaos on the roads, shutting the Tyne and Wear Metro and cutting power supplies to almost 80,000 people, mostly in Northumberland and County Durham.
The storm - which came less than three months after Storm Arwen wreacked havoc around the North East - led the Emergency Planning Strategic Co-ordination Group (SCG) for County Durham and Darlington to declare a major incident.
Read more: go here for breaking news from around the North East
Elsewhere, two women were taken to hospital after being hit by falling debris from a house in Winlaton, Gateshead, while the roof a house in nearby Bensham blew off completely.
Away from the North East, a nine-year-old boy and a 60-year-old woman were killed by falling trees in strong winds caused by storms. Staffordshire Police said a man is in hospital after the incident which killed the boy.
Northern Powergrid - which was heavily criticised for its response to Storm Arwen in the North East - reported 600 incidents of damage to its network in the region, with 78,000 customers cut off at some point yesterday.
It restored supplies to 55,000 homes but warned that continuing gale force winds meant it was unsafe for its teams to climb and repair any damage caused to overhead power lines mainly by fallen trees and flying debris.
Northern Powergrid director Paul Glendinning said: “Storm Malik is causing disruption to our network and the gale force winds are expected to continue across the weekend.
“Our engineers continue to do everything possible to assess the scale of the damage and prioritise the repairs required. We have all our resources in place and our priority is to deal with emergency situations, support our customers and ensure our people can work safely as soon as the conditions allow.”
In County Durham, a major incident was declard by the Emergency Planning Strategic Co-ordination Group.
Chief Superintendent Richie Allen, chair of the co-ordination group, said: “We are working closely with all of our partners, including Northern Powergrid, to ensure that supplies are restored as soon as possible, particularly for those who are vulnerable.
“It’s just two months since many communities were left without power as a result of Storm Arwen, so we understand that residents will be anxious to ensure their supplies are quickly restored.
“Residents can be assured that support is available to anyone who needs it so, if you need help, please get in touch. I would also ask that people please continue to look out for friends, family members are neighbours where possible, particularly if they know of anyone who is vulnerable.”
Durham County Council leader Amanda Hopgood said: “We would like to reassure residents that our staff are on hand to offer support to those affected by Storm Malik.
“Multi-agency partners have been working tirelessly over the day in local communities to clear blocked roads and footpaths, to clear debris and to keep our roads open. I also know many councillors are also working in their local communities and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved.”
An amber weather warning early on Saturday was later downgraded to a yellow warning, but the strong winds led to the closure of the Tyne and Wear Metro system, part of the Bridges shopping centre in Sunderland and the Sage Gateshead.
The A1 was closed in both directions in County Durham at one point as traffic authorities dealt with a serious accident, causing long delays. Train services north of Newcastle and into Scotland - which was also badly hit by the storm - were suspended.
Meanwhile, the Met Office has warned that a new storm - Storm Corrie - will bring high winds and likely disruption to Scotland and the North tomorrow and Monday.
