17,000 homes without power for a fourth night in Scotland

Storm Arwen started causing problems on Friday.

SSEN team working to restore power to Callendar (SSEN/PA)

At least 17,000 Scottish homes are without power for a fourth night as engineers battle to repair electricity lines.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) remains at red-alert status for its north of Scotland network.

Its teams continue to respond to widespread and extensive damage to its network caused by Storm Arwen which began on Friday lunchtime.

An SSEN spokesperson said: “Since the start of Storm Arwen at around lunchtime on Friday, power has been restored to over 103,000 customers in total, with 17,000 customers currently off supply.

“This includes: Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire: 9,700, Moray: 3,500, Angus: 1,600 and Perthshire: 1,700.”

Mark Rough, director of customer operations at SSEN, said:“We continue to make good progress following the extensive network damage caused by Storm Arwen, with additional teams assisting with restoration efforts and major connections made to locations such as Ballater and Braemar.

“Our engineers are still experiencing challenging conditions and multiple faults on individual circuits, with complex repairs under way that will take longer than normal.

“The extent of the damage is also hampering the ability to re-route the network to restore supply.

SSEN are also offering to reimburse reasonable costs for accommodation, where customers do not have any alternative option

Mark Rough, director of customer operations at SSEN

“We recognise that another day without power brings additional concern to those affected, and I’d like to apologise to all customers for the ongoing disruption and assure them that we are doing all we can to restore power. 

“We continue to prioritise support for vulnerable customers, through co-ordination with our resilience partners, and are also offering to reimburse reasonable costs for accommodation, where customers do not have any alternative option.”

With Customer Contact Centre lines remaining extremely busy, we continue to encourage customers impacted to only phone if it is an emergency or if they need extra help, to keep the line clear for vulnerable customers who may need extra support.”

SSEN continues to work closely with local and national resilience partners to help coordinate the community response.

As part of this, support is being prioritised for the most vulnerable Priority Services Register customers.

Rest centres have also been established at the following locations: Ballater at the Victoria and Albert Hall, Eassie & Nevay Hall, Fintry, Knockraich Farm, Strathyre Primary School, Aberfoyle Primary School and Doune Primary School.

In addition, the following welfare facilities will continue to support customers who remain off supply and will continue to provide hot food and drinks from 7am on Tuesday November 30.

Teams from SSEN, using 4X4 vehicles, will deliver hot food and drinks to customers on SSEN’s Priority Services Register in some of the more remote and isolated communities.