Hundreds of people in Oxfordshire were still without power today (October 29) as the county struggled to recover from the weekend storms.

Emergency services remove a tree which had fallen on a car on Crowell Road, Oxford

Schools were shut and rail services continued to face disruption.

The schools that were closed today included Great Tew Primary; Christopher Rawlins Primary, near Adderbury; Great Rollright Primary and Thinmere Primary, near Bicester.

New faults were reported on power lines as engineers tried to repair damage caused by the gale.

Southern Electric reported that 400 homes in rural areas were still without power, mainly in the Garsington, Horspath, Piddington and Chalgrove areas. Some villages in north Oxfordshire were also still cut off. A Southern Electric spokesman said that while minor faults had quickly been repaired yesterday, it took longer to repair major damage where falling trees had brought down pylons.

The repair programme was given a head start when the company brought 50 engineers from Scotland on Saturday in anticipation of Sunday's storm.

But many homes were still not expected to be reconnected until later today.

Janette Woodhouse, 54, a sales manager living in Fritwell, near Bicester, said: "Our village doesn't have a gas supply so we depend on electricity to pump oil into our boilers.

"We've got no heat, no light. I've got neighbours with babies who need to boil water to sterilise bottles to feed their babies. It's just awful."

Speeds restrictions on rail lines were lifted yesterday but thousands of commuters were left stranded after train operators cancelled services or ran to emergency timetables.

Thames Trains suspended services between Oxford and Bristol and all stopping services between Oxford and London Paddington were suspended.

Chiltern Trains suspended services due to signalling problems and many Virgin Trains services to Birmingham were cancelled.

Up-to-date information on rail services can be found on the Internet at www.nationalrail.co.uk

For many people across Oxfordshire, Monday was the first opportunity to survey the damage caused by Sunday's 90mph winds.

Pupils returning to school at Fitzharrys School, Abingdon, found a large large willow tree resting against the roof of a single storey sixth form teaching block.

In Sutton Courtenay, roofing from a block of garages in Bradstocks Way was blown 100 yards to land on a bungalow in Katchside.

Police were today expected to name the 22-year-old woman who was killed when a tree fell on a car in Gloucester Street, Oxford, on Sunday.