The media, in whatever guise, whether it be newspapers, television, radio, facebook or any of the myriad of ways that the public receive its news these days, is frequently full of warnings about approaching storms and the chaos they can potentially cause.

Whether this is considered as an “overkill” or welcomed information, it does not harm to be aware of the help that is out there and to have it to hand should it be needed.

The electricity local network operator for this area is Northern Powergrid. It offers a Priority Services Register, offering tailored services and guidance for those customers who may feel that they would benefit from receiving priority treatment during a power cut. This could be for medical reasons, for reasons of age or disability, communications problems or those with young children to look after at home.

It is free to join the Register, and might be well worth while considering. There is a dedicated 0800 help line number and, in the event of a power cut, members of the team will contact customers on the register to offer peace of mind, make sure extra help is available should it be required, as well as providing an estimated time at which power is likely to be restored.

To find out more details click

To register now click

In the event of a power cut, anyone, whether on the Priority Services Register or not, can call 105 to be connected to their local network provider. Every home and street in the country is connected to the electricity network through a substation and to assist the provider in identifying just where on the grid a property sits. it is always helpful if to know your home's “Block Letter”.

Find yours click

Yorkshire Water also offers a similar service.

It offers help with issues such as arranging accessible bills, organising bottled water delivery if the water is likely to be off for more than five hours and there is no other way of getting water to a home, concerns about unwanted callers or perhaps registering another family member to manage an account or speak on behalf of the account holder.

Again, this is a free service. To register, or find out more click

The village's gas supply is the responsibility of Northern Gas Networks and it too has a free Priority Services Register, which follows very much the level of help offered by Northern Powergrid and Yorkshire Water.

To find out more and register click