Thousands of people in Wales are still without power three days after Storm Darrragh battered large parts of the UK.

It was described by National Grid as “the biggest storm our region has faced in decades”.

One councillor said he had been told that some properties in his area may not be reconnected until Thursday.

Engineers are continuing to try to restore power to customers after the storm brought winds of up to 93mph (150km/h), causing widespread damage to the electricity network, but fallen trees caused difficulties accessing sites and damage, National Grid said.

On Tuesday morning, National Grid said there were 13,784 properties without power across south and mid Wales, and on Monday night Scottish Power reported about 4,196 outages across north and mid Wales.

“Some areas haven’t lost any power or just for a few hours Saturday night,” said Gareth Lloyd, a councillor for Llandysilio and Llangrannog in Ceredigion.

“Whilst other areas had a date of 10pm Tuesday, but that’s been postponed and could be Wednesday or Thursday,” he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

“Luckily there’s community spirit,” he said. “People will look after each other.”

The county council has also opened centres where people can come in for electricity and warmth and some food and drink, he said.

In addition, power companies were going to issue a list of names from their vulnerable list they had not been able to contact yet.

“Local councillors will be informed so we can contact them to make sure they’re all right,” Mr Lloyd said.

He pointed out that many businesses were also affected.

“It can go from being a nuisance to affecting your livelihood and your health as well,” he said.

Iwan Ward, a councillor for Boncath and Clydau in Pembrokeshire, said residents there had been without power since 02:00 GMT on Saturday and they had been told it would not be restored until 22:00 on Thursday.

He said some people were without phones, with more people now using digital phones which rely on wifi.

“This is the 21st Century and people are in complete blackout,” he said.

Roisin Quinn of National Grid said its engineers and support teams had been “working around the clock to maintain power across the network”.

She thanked customers for their patience, adding that “we are doing everything we can to get power restored across the region as soon as possible”.