A tower at a power station in Kent collapsed, and the Hinkley Point B nuclear power station was partly shut down after the weather led to electrical problems in the unit connecting it to the power grid.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for the South West and the south coast from 6am to 6pm on Saturday, with wind speeds of 40-50mph expected inland and 60mph on the coast.

Northern parts of the country face freezing conditions, compounding the misery for those who have lost power. The Met Office has warned that the bad weather could lead to “prolonged” power cuts because it will hamper efforts to fix overhead cables.

Travel chaos is also expected to continue this weekend, as National Rail on Friday night warned of ongoing disruption. Thousands of trains were cancelled on Friday, with rail bosses issuing a blanket “do not travel” warning.

All services in and out of London Euston were halted, all trains in Wales were cancelled and Avanti West Coast and Chiltern Railways were among other lines suspended.

Across airports including Heathrow, Manchester and London City, 436 flights were cancelled, according to figures from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm. More disruption is likely in the coming days as cancelled services are rearranged, coinciding with half-term holidays.