Thousands of homes left without power for a 10th day from Storm Arwen are braced for a second battering, as Storm Barra is set to bring 70mph winds.？
The Met Office on Sunday named the second storm of the winter season and put northern England on notice for further power outages this week.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, has ordered an official review into how more than 3,000 households remained in the dark 10 days after Storm Arwen brought 98mph winds which tore down cables.？
Yellow severe weather warnings for wind cover almost the entire UK from 9am until midnight on Tuesday, while a yellow alert for snow covers northern England and Scotland from 11am until midnight.？
The Met Office expects strong south-easterly winds of 50mph across the country, reaching 60 to 70mph in more exposed areas. Snowfall of between 2 and 5 centimeters and snow drifts are also forecast.
Forecasters at the agency said ？？some short term loss of power and other services is possible？？ across Britain, as well as travel disruption, especially in northern England which is still reeling from Storm Arwen.？
The Energy Networks Association (ESA) confirmed that 3,190 homes remain without power, down from 4,700 on Saturday night and 20,000 four days into the storm last week. It is the shortest window between official storms since 2018.
Thousands still without power
Forecasters are warning residents to expect delays to travel, further loss of power and the risk that some rural communities may be cut off.？
The bleak conditions will hit northern regions especially hard, where County Durham and Northumberland councils have declared ？？major incidents？？ and 4,000 residents remained without power earlier on Sunday.
Northern Powergrid confirmed on Saturday that 3,300 homes and businesses in its region out of 240,000 affected by Storm Arwen were still without full power.？
Some 15 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, remain in force from the Environment Agency, much of them covering rivers in Northumberland and surrounding areas.
More heavy rain to come
Dan Stroud, a forecaster at the Met Office, told The Telegraph: ？？It？？s not great news as we're looking for a wet week to come for many areas.？
？？Today is a bit of a respite with some clear skies developing for some but it？？s going to be fairly short lived as we have an active front moving through in early hours of Monday, bringing another spell of heavy rain.
？？The next area of concern is during the course of Tuesday - Storm Barra bringing outbreaks of heavy rain quite widely across many areas of the north during the course of Tuesday but the bigger story is going to be the strength of the wind.
？？Associated with the wind we've also got an area of rain moving north - with that bump of cold over the north there's a risk of that turning to snow over high level ground on Tuesday, with high level routes affected by 2 to 5cm and on some lower ground as well."
People were urged by the Met Office to take "precautionary measures to the best of their ability" ahead of the fresh weather front, such as by staying across any warnings.
The Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng intervened to condemn the "totally unacceptable" failure to end power shortages nine days on from Storm Arwen.？
"It's wrong and bad for people to be off power for such a long time," he told the BBC on a visit to Durham, a badly affected area. "That's why I'm here to make sure that we can get people back on as quickly as possible.
"As I've said, for 99.5 per cent of people they're back on, but for the ones that are still having to put up with this is is unacceptable."
He rejected the idea that the issues would be fixed quicker in the south and added: "I think we can make the system a lot more resilient.？？
Officials in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have been asked to undertake a review to identify lessons and best practice for improving system resilience, infrastructure, resourcing and communications with customers.
It will be led by the department？？s Energy Emergencies Executive Committee and involve industry leaders, alongside an ？？urgent？？ review launched by Ofgem, the regulator, which has threatened enforcement action.？
Some residents in Northumberland, County Durham and Cumbria said they could still not cook, wash or stay warm because of the blackout.
The Ministry of Defence said 297 personnel from the British Army and Royal Marines were still providing support to civil authorities and conducting door-to-door checks on vulnerable people on Sunday morning.
A spokesperson for Energy Networks Association said: "Energy network operators are working together to prepare for the developing Storm Barra. We're monitoring forecasts regularly, coordinating response plans and preparing to share resources if required."
Northern Powergrid said it was hopeful remaining power will be back by Tuesday, while in Cumbria, Electricity North West said it was working on restoring power to a final few properties.？
Ofgem has warned it will take enforcement action against network companies which failed to restore power to customers quickly enough.
It has also agreed with firms to lift the 拢700 cap on compensation for those stuck without power. This will allow people to claim 拢70 for each 12-hour period they have no electricity, after an initial 拢70 for the first 48 hours.
Nurse struggling in freezing house invites Boris Johnson to visit
Joanne Wiig, an NHS nurse from Harbottle, Northumberland, is entering her 10th day of power outages thanks to Storm Arwen - and she fears what is to come.
？？The storm hit last Friday night, on Saturday morning I had no water, heat or electric. I slept in one room, wrapped in a blanket next to the log burner as the rest of the house was freezing,？？ she told The Telegraph.
？？By Wednesday I was feeling very cold, I hadn？？t had a hot meal since the Friday.？？
Mrs Wiig is keen for Boris Johnson to visit those affected. "I would personally take him to see the carnage that's been left. I'm still very tired from lack of sleep and the electric went off again last night. I am emotionally drained to be honest, it's all a bit surreal.？？
More than 3,000 homes across northern England remained cut off from the mains last night, mostly in Northumberland, County Durham and Cumbria.
But 10 days after Storm Arwen brought 98mph winds and heavy rain on November 25, residents are now being warned it could get worse before it gets better.
Betty Brown, a 93-year-old World War Two survivor from Belford, Northumberland, also faces a 10th day in the dark. ？？Without the Calor Gas stove I would have had to move out, because I'm told the rest of the house is like an iceberg,？？ she told Chronicle Live, but insisted: ？？I shall get through it.？？
Severe yellow weather warnings for winds of up to 70mph blanket all of Britain from 9am until midnight on Tuesday as Storm Barra is set to pummel the country from the west. A warning for 2 to 5 centimeters of snow covers most of northern England and Scotland from 11am until midnight. It is the shortest window between official storms since 2018.
Transport likely to be affected
The Met Office said that delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport were likely and further short-term power loss was possible, while large waves may lash seafronts.
Dan Stroud, a forecaster at the Met Office, added: ？？It？？s not great news as we're looking for a wet week to come for many areas. It's certainly unhelpful for the areas trying to recover from the aftermath of Storm Arwen."
The Energy Networks Association (ESA) confirmed that 3,190 homes were still without power last night.
Ahead of the new weather front, the industry body added: "Energy network operators are working together to prepare for the developing Storm Barra. We're monitoring forecasts regularly, coordinating response plans and preparing to share resources if required."
Northern Powergrid said it was hopeful those remaining without power will have it returned to them by Tuesday, with 260 generators installed around the north east. In Cumbria, Electricity North West said it was working on restoring power to a final few properties.
The Business Secretary announced an official review of the "totally unacceptable" disruption that was similar to an August 2019 power outage that affected one million people across England, Wales and some of Scotland.
Kwasi Kwarteng said: "We will have a review, we will see if the distributor companies have enough infrastructure, we may even have enforcement action if necessary."
He rejected criticism that the issue would have been solved more quickly in the south. "The physical infrastructure, layout and landscape is very different？？, he said on a visit to a Northern Powergrid call centre near Sunderland.
？？One of the particular reasons why we haven't got people back on the power supply is the weather conditions and they are very challenging (with) people in sparsely populated, very rural areas, and that represents a challenge."
Flood alerts
Last night, there were 15 flood alerts from the Environment Agency, mostly for north-east England, meaning flooding is possible.
On Saturday, Boris Johnson said he had held calls with those leading the response to Storm Arwen and that the Government was ready to further support the recovery work "in any way we can".
Ofgem agreed with firms to lift the 拢700 cap on compensation for those stuck without power. This will allow people to claim 拢70 for each 12-hour period they have no electricity, after an initial 拢70 for the first 48 hours.