Private power suppliers were condemned yesterday for failing to restore energy to thousands of households after Britain suffered a second major storm over the Christmas holiday.

UK Power Networks, which owns the electricity lines in east and south-east England, came under harsh criticism after more than 3,000 people in Kent, Surrey and Sussex were still without power following the Christmas Eve storm.

Meanwhile engineers were struggling to reconnect as many as 15,000 homes in Wales and Scotland where the highest winds were recorded.

The clear-up operation from the Christmas Eve chaos was overtaken yesterday by yet another blast from the Atlantic, which brought high winds and heavy rain to already hard-hit areas.

Supplier Scottish Power reported that around 10,000 homes were without electricity in north Wales, where the worst affected areas in Gwynedd, Anglesey and the Llyn Peninsula were battered by winds of over 100mph.

The company said that 3,800 of its Scottish customers were also cut off, mainly in the Dumfries and Galloway area.

Scottish and Southern Energy said staff were working to reconnect around 1,200 home in Angus, Orkney, Inverness and Aberdeenshire.

The operator's promise to have everyone back with power by the weekend did little to quell the anger of customers, some of whom took to Twitter to vent their frustration at lack of information as well as electricity.

Katharine Weaver said: "My parents in their 70s have been without power since the 23rd and can't get any information."

And an angry flood victim left stranded in her home with no electricity confronted David Cameron in front of TV cameras as he visited Yalding in Kent.

She told the Prime Minister: "We still have no electric. We need electric... the council, from Monday, we have been trying to contact them, but they have all decided to go on their holidays. Nothing."

Mr Cameron claimed that the severity of flooding in the area made it difficult to protect homes.

"But we have got to do more and we have got to do better," he added.