More than 20,000 customers had no power at peak of outages

Powercor have more than 100 people in the field in control and dispatch teams and contact centres working to fix power outages, after more than 20,000 people had no power overnight.

A Powercor spokesperson has said this was "not the Christmas anyone was hoping for".

"We get it - a power outage is the last thing anyone needs today," Powercor's Jordan Oliver said.

"If you have no power today, we'd like you to know we are feeling for you and we're doing everything we can to get power back on."

Mr Oliver said the northern Victorian region remained the most impacted by the storms.

Strong winds and lighting have damaged infrastructure in Swan Hill, Shepparton, Echuca and Cobram, with the majority of faults occurring in these locations over the past 12 hours.

CitiPower and Powercor crews from across the state have arrived in northern Victoria and are assisting local crews with restoration efforts.

Our field teams have reduced customer outage numbers from more than 20,000 off supply at the peak on Christmas Eve, to less than 3000 this morning.

New storms have since moved across the network, with new faults causing outage numbers to rise again to slightly over 6100 off power.

Mr Oliver said more faults are likely on Christmas day as storms continue.

Members of the public are urged to put the safety of themselves and their families above all else, and never approach or touch any fallen powerlines, always treat them as live, and report them to Powercor on 13 24 12.

UPDATE, 10am: Power is out across many central Victorian locations this Christmas morning, and Santa wasn't the only one working into the night.

A Powercor spokesperson said, late on Christmas Eve, crews were working to restore power for 17,000 customers across northern, central and western Victoria.

"Just hours before the jolly man in red was due to arrive, the winds and lightning unfortunately arrived first, bringing down trees and causing damage to transformers and other equipment across the network," Powercor's Jordan Oliver said.

"A second storm front is expected in northern Victoria from around 4am Christmas morning."

At 10.06am on Christmas day there were 6258 people without power including in locations such as Mandurang South, California Gully and Eaglehawk.

More locations and specific information can be found in the Bendigo Advertiser blog.

On Christmas Eve and into Christmas morning, Powercor crews were responding to more than 170 separate jobs, working as quickly and as safely as possible to restore power to a number of communities.

Northern Victoria was among the hardest hit areas including in Shepparton and in Echuca.

The Powercor spokesperson said more than 70 faults were recorded across these two areas alone.

Kyneton was also heavily impacted as were the towns of Daylesford and Charlton.

Outside of our region, Ballarat, Hamilton and Swan Hill were also hit by power outages.

Restoration times for power

The spokesperson said some customers will still be experiencing outages while opening their Christmas presents and into the day due to the number of faults.

Those affected will be updated via SMS and members of the public can also access the outage map.

Mr Oliver said Powercor thanked all customers for their patience and said restoring power as soon as possible was a priority.

Safety checklist:

Visit Powercor's Emergency Advice page to learn more.

Stay safe - if you see a fallen powerline, stay 10 metres clear and call Powercor immediately on 13 24 12.

Those who rely on life support equipment or need electrical items to care for babies, the disabled, elderly or pets are advised to have a back-up plan where possible.

Set fridges to five degrees celsius or below. An unopened fridge will keep food for about four hours.

Have plenty of drinking water available if your supply relies on power.