Fears that parts of Badenoch and Strathspey could be without power into midweek
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There are fears that parts of the strath could be without power until at least the end of Tuesday following huge disruptions to the supply network.
Following the significant damage caused by Storm Malik on Saturday, combined with the potential impacts of Storm Corrie later today, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has moved to Red Alert status for its north of Scotland licence area.
From the early hours of yesterday morning, sustained wind speeds of over 70mph have been experienced across the north of Scotland, with gusts in excess of 85mph recorded on the north east coast.
The impact of Storm Malik has resulted in significant damage to SSEN’s electricity network due to fallen trees, branches, and other wind-blown debris striking network infrastructure.
Access to faults is also proving difficult due to fallen trees blocking roads.
SSEN continues to closely monitor a second weather front, named by the Met Office as Storm Corrie, which is also forecast to impact similar regions in the north of Scotland from tomorrow afternoon and has the potential to cause further damage and faults to SSEN’s electricity network.
As of 10pm yesterday, SSEN has experienced over 200 faults on its high voltage network and its operational teams have successfully restored power to around 47,000 customers in extremely challenging conditions.
Around 23,000 customers currently remain off supply, with the main areas affected being rural Aberdeenshire and the Moray Coast, with pockets of customers also off supply in Angus, the Highlands and Perthshire.
A SSEN spokesperson said: "Whilst every effort will be made to restore power to as many customers as possible tonight, there will be customers who remain off supply overnight, with the full restoration of all customer supplies likely to extend across multiple days.
The main areas which are likely to be most affected by prolonged outages include Badenoch and Strathspey with Grantown, Balindalloch, Boat of Garten, Dalwhinnie and Kingussie named specifically.
Lee Schofield, known as the Highlands Weatherman on social media, stated on social media: "Sorry folks, we've still not power in Carrbridge and now been told it will be off until the end of Tuesday."
SSEN said it is also working closely with Local Resilience Partnerships to help coordinate responses and provide support to customers affected.
The spokesperson said: "Customers who still remain off supply, particularly in those areas listed above, may wish to consider making alternative arrangements with friends or family, where possible. In addition, SSEN is providing welfare facilities deployed to the following locations."
SSEN has named these locally as:
Aviemore, Forestry Commission Car Park, Cairngorm Road – Whytes Food Van – from 8am today
Dulnain Bridge, Roches Moutonnees Carpark – Highland Hog Roast Food Van – from 8am today.
Customers unable to access welfare facilities and who remain off supply may claim back the cost of meals up to £15 per person.
Those affected are being asked to keep copies of receipts for any claims and any vulnerable customer who requires alternative arrangements but is unable to arrange themselves, is encouraged to contact SSEN’s teams by calling 105.
Richard Gough, Director of Distribution System Operations at SSEN, said: “Having now assessed the full impact of Storm Malik and as we prepare for the arrival of Storm Corrie, we have now increased our alert status to Red Alert.
“Whilst our teams have made good progress and have restored power to the majority of customers affected by Storm Malik, due to the extent of damage caused, alongside the likely impact of Storm Corrie, we expect the full restoration of customer supplies from both storms to extend across multiple days.
“We are therefore notifying all customers who remain off supply that they may want to consider making alternative arrangements, where possible.
“We would like to apologise to all customers affected and would like to reassure them that our teams are doing all they can to restore power as quickly as possible, where it is safe to do so.
“We continue to proactively contact customers on our Priority Services Register to offer extra support where required and work with local resilience partners to coordinate welfare provisions. I’d encourage anyone concerned to give our dedicated teams a call on 105, where we can provide additional support and guidance.”
The next update will be provided later this morning.
