Engineers from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) are working to restore power as Storm Conor delivers hurricane-force winds, lightning and severe winter conditions to the north of Scotland.

This weather front is expected to continue for the remainder of this afternoon as the far north of Scotland experiences the 'tail' of the storm, then subside from around 6pm when a period of calmer weather moves in.

The areas that have borne the brunt of today's weather are Caithness, Orkney and Shetland with a gust of 94mph recorded at Sella Ness, Shetland earlier this afternoon. In general, the electricity network has proven to be resilient in these extreme conditions, but damage from trees falling on to overhead lines and direct lightning strikes to poles and transformers has caused some disruption to supplies.

As of 3pm today (26 Dec), SSEN has restored power to 9,000 customers, with 1,600 currently awaiting restoration. All faults have been allocated to engineers and our contact centre is proactively calling priority service customers who may be affected.

Please note, these numbers are likely to fluctuate as Storm Conor continues to pass through the north of Scotland this afternoon.

Dale Cargill, Director of Customer Operations for SSEN, said:"As our forecasts predicted we are now starting see the full effect of Storm Conor, with wind speeds of over 90mph recorded in our network area. Despite experiencing hurricane force winds and frequent lightning strikes, our network continues to stand up well to the challenging conditions and we are well resourced to respond quickly to further disruption to supplies, where it is safe to do so."

"With the extreme weather forecast to continue throughout this afternoon and into early evening, further disruption to supplies is likely and any customers who do suffer a loss of power can contact us on the new national power cut helpline  '105' where they can also advise if they require extra support from our priority service."

SSEN remains on Yellow Alert until weather conditions subside, when it will return to a business-as-usual status.

Additional information:
SSEN is well resourced to respond quickly to disruption to electricity supplies and has increased the levels of frontline and support staff and has moved engineers, equipment and welfare facilities to strategic areas, including the islands, in anticipation of the recent extreme weather events.

Preparations made by SSEN include:

  • 600 frontline and support staff are on hand across the Christmas period, some five times the normal number who would be available
  • Around 100 mobile generation units are strategically positioned to help restore power in the event of faults to the network
  • 20 welfare vans are available and ready to be deployed to affected areas, should they be required
  • Outbound calls being made to over 2,000 customers on SSEN's Priority Service Register to assess needs and offer extra assistance, where required
  • Given disruption to travel services, helicopters and fixed-wing planes are on standby to assist with the movement of engineers and equipment, where it is safe to do so

For more details of SSEN's preparation for Storms Barbara and Conor please see the following videos:
https://vimeo.com/196755895
https://vimeo.com/196722756

People can qualify for the Priority Service Register (PSR) if they:

  • Are dependent on electricity for home medical care
  • Have a chronic illness or short term medical condition
  • Are disabled
  • Have special communication needs
  • Have a young baby or receive a state pension.

To find out more about the PSR, click here or call 0800 294 3259.