POWER appears to have been restored to all homes in Oxfordshire this evening.

Electricity had been restored to hundreds of homes hit by weather-related black-outs in Oxfordshire in the last 24 hours.

But sixty homes were this afternoon still waiting for the lights to be switched back on for Christmas Day, Southern Electric said.

Just before midday, the firm said sixty homes in Oxfordshire remained without electricity, with no indication of when power would be restored.

The location of the affected homes had not been revealed.

But the firm said earlier this evening that 3,000 more homes in the region have now had power restored, and Oxfordshire is no longer on a list of places the firm says are affected.

A total of 500 homes in the south-east that are not on this list remain without power, but it is unclear whether any of these are in the Oxfordshire area.

Floods, tree cutting and finding the source of the power disruption are the issues facing engineers today, the firm said.

And the Energy Networks Association had this afternoon said that those in the south of England still without power are unlikely to get it back until tomorrow.

Yet the organisation's prediction appears to have been wrong, at least with regards to Oxfordshire.

One thousand four hundred homes had been without electricity yesterday out of the 6,000 or so that lost power on Monday evening.

But engineers from the firm have now restored power to most areas.

Across the area of the south of England covered by the company, around 44,000 customers were still last night without electricity. 

Tonight, that figure has fallen to just under 18,000.

Southern Electric engineers are working today to try to bring back power to the remaining homes.

A spokesman for the company last night said: "Southern Electric Power Distribution (SEPD) engineers have been working throughout the day in some extremely challenging conditions to repair damage and restore power to customers across the central-southern England.

"Good progress continues to be made, with over 66,000 customers having been restored throughout the course of yesterday and today."

Have you been affected by the power cuts? Contact news@oxfordmail.co.uk