LIFE was returning to normal today for people affected by the storms which battered Gwent at the weekend.

Electricity supplies have been restored and train services were also back on line - but the army was still searching for an inflatable, six-foot tank which went "missing in action" when it blew away during an exercise near Tredegar on Sunday.

Monmouthshire council said the cost of clearing up was set to be around £5,000, as other local authorities continued to add up the damage.

Work was being also carried out today to a damaged roof above the main hall at Llantarnam Comprehensive School, Cwmbran.

The school was closed to pupils yesterday and today for pre-arranged training days and they are due to return tomorrow.

Yesterday people living on a hillside high above Monmouth had said they were feeling "desperate" after being without electricity for more than 24 hours following the wind-battering weekend.

Residents on The Kymin lost their power at 7am on Sunday as gusts of more than 90mph hit Gwent.

Today a spokeswoman for Western Power Distribution said: "As far as we are aware there are no high voltage faults in the Gwent area. There might be one or two very isolated incidents of low voltage faults but more or less everyone is now back on supply."

Kay Wilson, who lives on The Kymin, told the Argus that around 40 homes in the area had been affected and that residents were feeling very fed up with the situation, said to be caused by a tree falling on power lines.

"We have a power cut every time there is a storm - five or six times in the last year."

The spokesman for Western Power Distribution said staff from Devon, Ireland and the north of England were being drafted in to help restore power to all homes in South Wales.

First Great Western said it was endeavouring to operate a near normal timetable today following yesterday's severe disruption with only two planned cancellations this morning.

But many rail passengers in other parts of the country were facing continued disruption.

* Pictured, Aaron Curley, 8, sister Derrin, 4, and their cousin Shanice Brown, left, take advantage of an oak felled by the storms in Malpas