Around 12,000 Scots homes are still without electricity after Storm Éowyn ravaged the country.
Experts at the Met Office have branded the event “the strongest storm to hit Scotland in ten years” as engineers battle to restore power. The main areas that continue to be affected are Argyll and Bute, the Kintyre peninsula, southern Perthshire and the Trossachs.
Several hundred engineers have been working across the network throughout January 25 to repair faults and to fully assess the damage. The remaining faults that teams are working on have involved multiple points of damage, and in many cases will require complex reconstruction before all customers can be safely reconnected.
Scottish and Southern Electrical Networks (SSEN) expect to make continued good progress tonight and tomorrow restoring the vast majority of customers. However, due to the extent of the damage in yesterday’s Red Warning area and the complexity of repairs required to restore supplies, some customers in these parts are expected to be off supply until Monday.
SSEN’s teams are proactively contacting those affected to provide updates and offer support where required, particularly to those on the Priority Services Register. In those other regions still affected by Storm Éowyn, SSEN expects to restore power to all customers by the end of tonight, with engineers working into the evening to make further repairs and restore supplies.
A large welfare operation continues to support customers in communities where the reconnection operation is still underway. A number of vans serving free hot food and drink have been operating since breakfast time; these are being moved to other areas once power is restored.
The vans will remain open into this evening, and up-to-date information can be found on SSEN’s social media channels Arrangements have also been made with some local businesses to provide hot food and drinks. Details of these locations will also be provided via social media.
SSEN Distribution’s Director of Customer Operations for the north of Scotland, Andy Smith, says: “We would like to thank all customers for their patience and understanding while our teams have responded to the impact caused by Storm Éowyn.
“Throughout the course of today, dozens of teams across our network region have made good progress, carrying out repairs and restoring supplies. Alongside this massive response, we’ll continue to support our customers who remain off supply through a range of welfare provisions.”
He added: “We expect to restore power to all customers who are outside yesterday’s red alert area by the end of the night, but due to the extent of damage caused by yesterday’s exceptional storm, and the complex nature of the repairs needed inside the red alert zone, some customers will remain off supply for at least another night. We’re working with our Local Resilience Partners to support these customers, especially those on our Priority Services Register.
“We’re in contact with affected customers and we’ll provide them with a realistic estimate of when their lights are likely to go back on as soon as we’re able. I would also encourage anyone awaiting reconnection to make use of the extensive welfare support we’ve put in place for them.”
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