More than 20,000 households across Scotland remain without power today as the country continues to clear up the damage caused by Storm Éowyn.
Rural areas have been hardest hit and some homes without electricity may have to wait several days more before it is restored, a senior SNP minister has warned.
“While the weather has improved, you have to consider this is a multi-day impact, particularly for the utilities companies,” Angela Constance said.
“They are working very hard and at pace to reconnect people to power. As we speak, we have around 22,000 customers across the country without power. That is a much improved figure.”
Asked if it could be days for some people waiting to be reconnected, Constance added: “The phase we are in now, is in many ways the hardest phase for our utilities companies.
“How they have expressed it to me is the operational endeavour required to get 1,000 people online, today the same endeavour is required to connect 100 people.
“It’s also because they are constantly assessing, and when they are doing repairs, they quite often find further repairs.
“We are conscious of the impact on Arran, Tarbert and Cumbrae. We are getting to more rural locations. There is a real focus of energy and commitment there.
“I know the energy companies are moving teams through to the west coast as things become operationally harder. But they made good progress yesterday, and they are confident of making good progress today.
“It is difficult to give a definitive timescale as to when everyone will be back online. But it is fair to say the recovery effort will continue into the start of this week.
Public transport remains disrupted with Glasgow Central and Queen Street stations closed to all services on Saturday before the main line to Edinburgh Waverley reopened on Sunday morning.
Constance said there were “no major issues” on the motorway and trunk road network, but rail services were still “recovering”.
Network Rail, which is responsible for maintaining the railway, had more than 2,500 miles of track to inspect before services were allowed to resume.
Around 400 incidents have been recorded on the rail network since Friday, including multiple felled trees and other debris blown on to the tracks.
“There has been a significant amount of work to ensure we get the country moving,” added Constance.
Asked if the Scottish Government had learned lessons from the country’s response to the storm, the SNP MSP said: “Right now we are still continuing to respond to the needs and challenges as presented.”
She added the red alert weather warning text message sent to all smartphone users on Thursday evening had been “useful” in preparing the country for the storm ahead.
“I appreciate it’s not the norm and may have been alarming to individuals but it has to provide an impact,” Constance added. “Red weather warnings are not the norm, even given climate change we are wrestling with.”
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