POWER cuts have caused severe problems in parts of Wirral.

Electricity North West tweeted the blackout was due to a fault with the National Grid but say that power has been restored.

Merseyrail is reporting severe difficuties however.

All services on the Wirral line are disrupted.

Trains from West Kirby and New Brighton have been suspended while services from Ellesmere Port and Chester are terminating at Birkenhead Central.

Shops and homes in parts of Wallasey and Birkenhead also lost their power supply.

And traffic light failures have been reported on roads in Wallasey, New Brighton and Liscard.

Major power failures have hit large areas of the UK, affecting trains, airports and traffic lights.

There has also been a severe power cut across Ellesmere Port.

SP Energy Networks say other areas of Cheshire and Wirral are affected.

It is hoped the power will be restored by 7pm.

The company said: "We did not know in advance there would be a power cut, and became aware of this at 4.54pm. Our control centre will attempt to reset the network remotely to restore power in stages, and we will also send our next available engineer to attend site.

"Our team will work to get your power back on as quickly and as safely as possible, and we expect the power to be restored by 7pm. Once they arrive, or when we receive any update regarding the cause, we will be able to provide you with more information.

"We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience."

Cheshire Police tweeted "We're aware of a power outage in the Ellesmere Port area, including in Great Sutton and Little Sutton.

"Our call handlers are unable to assist, please contact your electricity provider for advice."

UK Power Networks said large parts of London and the South East are without electricity.

"We believe this is due to a failure on National Grid's network, which is affecting our customers," it said.

Power operators for the South East, Midlands, South West and Wales said there was a "major incident" affecting electricity.

Blackouts have also been reported in the North East.

Network Rail said all trains had been stopped after a "power surge on the National Grid" but its signalling system has come back online.

Passengers have been warned to expect delays.

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