The calming after the Highland storm
The electricity distribution network in the north of Scotland “stood up well to challenging conditions following Storm Barbara,” say SSE.
The storm brought speeds of over 80mph and lightning strikes across the north west of Scotland and into the Highlands.
As of 4pm this afternoon (Christmas Eve) engineers had restored power to more than 25,000 Scottish homes, with all customers that were without electricity overnight now reconnected to supplies. Strong winds and intermittent lightning is still forecast for this evening and SSEN remain ready to deal with any subsequent damage to the network.
SSEN remains on Yellow Alert and is now preparing for a further weather front, Storm Conor, which is expected to bring more high winds and risk of lightning to the north-west Highlands, Orkney and Shetland from late Sunday night and through the course of Monday. Engineers and equipment are now being moved to strategic locations, with over 600 frontline and support employees available should they be required.
Dale Cargill, Director of Customer Operations for SSEN, said: “Our network has stood up well to the conditions but we won’t be complacent and remain prepared to respond quickly to disruption to supplies, where it is safe to do so. I’d like to thank customers for their patience as our teams work to restore power in these challenging conditions
“The safety of our customers and engineers will remain a priority as we now look to prepare for the high winds and risk of lightning that Storm Conor is expected to bring. We are acutely aware of the time of year and the increasing concern this brings and would like to reassure our customers we will be doing all we can to keep disruption to a minimum.”
SSEN’s network is “resilient in these weather conditions” but in anticipation of possible disruption to power supplies, it encourages customers to be prepared. This can done by:
- Saving the new emergency power cut number – 105 – to your phone to use if your power goes off, or if you see any damage to the electricity network.
- Downloading SSEN’s Power Track app to give you details of power cuts and restoration times.
- Going to SSEN’s Ready For Winter pages where there is a wealth of advice and information on how to prepare for a possible loss of power.
- Following SSEN on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates
