Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has now moved to Yellow Alert for its central southern England electricity distribution area as snow and high winds continue to move across the region.

The combination of snow and wind has resulted in some damage to SSEN's overhead network resulting in a number of faults across the north of its region. The main areas affected are Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and parts of Berkshire. Wind gusts of up to 70mph have also been observed in coastal areas.

The weather is also causing a number of challenges for SSEN's teams in gaining access to network faults due to continued snowfall, fallen trees and road closures. Further snowfall and high winds are expected, before easing mid-afternoon.

As of 1pm today, SSEN has safely reconnected power to around 9,000 homes, with around 24,000 customers currently without power.

SSEN is working to restore power through the course of today and into this evening and is asking customers to remain patient as its teams battle against the elements to gain access to faults and carry out repairs. Given continued access issues it remains possible that some homes may be without power overnight. In these situations, proactive contact will be made with customers and mobile generation and welfare facilities deployed, where possible.

SSEN has been tracking the weather event for a number of days and in preparation, SSEN had already increased the levels of frontline and support staff and had moved engineers and equipment to the areas that were expected to be impacted.

  • Engineers working from first light have located and repaired faults, resulting in power supplies being restored to 9000 customers
  • Proactive contact has been made to over 137,000 customers on our Priority Service Register to assess needs and offer extra assistance, where required
  • Ongoing liaison with local community resilience groups to share plans and assist communities in their preparation for any disruption
  • Mobile generation units have been strategically positioned to help restore power quickly in the event of faults to the network

Craig Gilroy, Director of Customer Operations for SSEN, said:

"We've been tracking the weather for several days and have made extra frontline and support staff available and placed equipment in strategic locations. Due to continued snowfall and road closures, we are experiencing some access issues and will continue to liaise with agency partners to help improve this situation."

"I'd like to reassure our customers that we are well placed to deal with any disruption and will move quickly to restore power, where it is safe to do so. 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 is also advising customers not to approach any damage to its equipment and instead, report the damage by calling 105 so SSEN's engineers can investigate as soon as possible.

Customers are encouraged to be prepared in the event of possible disruption to power supplies, 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 website where there is a wealth of advice and information on how to deal with a power cut
  • Following SSEN on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates

In the event of an interruption in power supplies, SSEN's customer service team will make outbound calls to customers on our Priority Service Register (PSR) to offer extra assistance, where required. People can qualify for the 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 children under the age of five
  • Are over the age of 60

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