Harrington Sound Primary School closed today after a power outage.

Parents were urged to collect students as soon as possible.

The Bermuda Government said electricity was lost after a Belco transformer blew in the Harrington Sound area as a powerful winter storm continued to sweep past the north of the island.

A spokeswoman said: “The Department of Education would like to advise all parents that the school has been closed and encourage them to make arrangements to pick up their children as soon as they can.”

At 12.40pm, 937 Belco customers remained without power, down from 3,498 at 9.45am. The largest outage is in the Harrington Sound area, where 533 lost power. About 200 customers were out in Point Shares.

A spokeswoman said: “We did lose a transformer in the Harrington Sound area this morning and, as per normal protocol, crews will assess the damage and effect restoration of power accordingly.

“We have also addressed at least three pole fires, which have occurred as a result of the ongoing wind. Restoration efforts continue.”

Also this morning, the Marine and Ports Services Department advised that the Sea Express Ferry Service will resume its regular schedule today.

The Pink Route has resumed services already; the Blue Route will resume at 3pm; the Green Route will resume at 4.10pm.

Over the past four days, Bermuda has been battered by fierce winds and waves. Winds peaked last night with gusts intensifying to hurricane strength. The worst of the winds coincided with last night’s high tide, although only a modest surge was forecast.

Strong to gale-force northwesterly winds were forecast to continue today, gradually abating to moderate to strong by tonight.