Clean-up after storm destruction

A woman died after a wall collapsed in Fern Close, Stockport

A huge clean-up operation is under way across the North West following storms which claimed the lives of six people and left thousands without power.

Joyce Cosadinos, 60, was killed when a wall collapsed on top of her in Marple, Greater Manchester and five others died in Cheshire, Merseyside and Lancashire.

Engineers are working to restore power to about 15,000 homes in Merseyside and Cheshire and 2,000 in Lancashire.

Some schools evacuated when high winds damaged buildings remain closed.

Heavy rain and gusts of more than 80mph battered the region on Thursday, leaving a catalogue of devastation, six people dead and a number of others injured.

A big chunk of the school fell off Partington Primary School pupil

The North West Ambulance Service said it had experienced one of its "busiest days ever" on Thursday, with a 260% increase in demand between 1200 and 1600 GMT.

Martin Hunt, 58, from Broxbourne in Essex, died in hospital after being hit by a petrol forecourt canopy in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire.

In Manchester, a man died after falling over and hitting his head when caught by a gust of wind in North Street, Strangeways.

A German lorry driver was killed when his vehicle overturned on the A55 near the Forte Posthouse hotel in Chester.

A pensioner in his 80s died of a suspected heart attack outside his home in Prenton, Wirral, as he tried to secure fencing that had blown loose.

Derek Barley, 61, of Manchester, was working on a gas storage site near Middlewich when he was fatally injured.

Several buildings were evacuated on Thursday, including schools in Manchester and Wirral.

Gym roof

Three classrooms were destroyed at Partington Primary School in Trafford when a gust of wind blew part of the building down.

Pupils were moved from the building after a member of staff noticed a window coming away from the building.

"A big chunk of the school fell off. We were all screaming and we had to run out as quickly as we could," one young girl pupil told the BBC.

The school remained closed on Friday while structural engineers examined the damage.

Pupils were also moved from Woodchurch High School in Wirral after its gym roof was blown off.

PE teacher Kath Talbot said: "There was a strong gust of wind and that whipped it up in the air and it came crashing down just outside the gym windows."

Heavy rain and winds affected travel around the north west

In Preston, Fishergate Shopping Centre remained closed as a safety precaution after hoardings and signings were damaged.

A number of roads in the city are closed including parts of Fishergate, Corporation Street and Butler Street.

More than 65,000 homes across the region had power supplies knocked out and although many homes have had electricity restored, some houses may not get their power back until Saturday.

Scottish Power has more than 300 staff out repairing damaged lines and attempting to restore power to homes in Cheshire and Merseyside.

United Utilities engineers were working to restore power to about 2,000 homes in the Tarleton, Ormskirk and Skelmersdale areas, as well as some parts of east Lancashire.

Spokeswoman Sally Ainsworth said: "The electricity network suffered major damage from the storms yesterday - we had more than 200 individual faults.

"We are aiming to get the majority of our customers back tonight but we have got major damage out here, so there will some customers off until the weekend."

Commuters who faced difficulty getting home on Thursday also faced some disruption to services on Friday.