Engineers from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) have restored power to around 70,000 customers following high winds and rain that have moved across SSEN's electricity network in central southern England since last night.
Parts of Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and West London have experienced power cuts, with engineers continuing to work to safely repair damage to the network and restore supplies at the earliest opportunity. As of 6pm, around 1,700 customers remain without power and we anticipate that all customers who have been affected by this bad weather will have their supplies restored this evening.
Forecasts show that further strong winds are expected into this evening, and SSEN is maintaining operational and call centre staff numbers at an increased level to deal with any further damage to its network the adverse weather might cause.
In addition to phoning and updating its most vulnerable customers, SSEN is also using its Customer and Community Advisors to escalate the needs of customers requiring extra care. These CCAs are out and about in affected regions visiting various locations with the welfare vans to provide food, drinks, information and charging facilities for mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Anyone who has been affected by a fault for more than six hours is being contacted by SSEN with the offer of hot food and reimbursement.
SSEN's Director of Customer Operations, Craig Gilroy said: "By monitoring the weather in advance, SSEN has been able to respond rapidly to safely restore power supplies to our customers. Our operational and call centre staffing levels remain high, with outbound calls also being made to our more vulnerable customers to ensure their needs are catered for should their power supplies be affected."
"We'll continue to track the weather as it develops and would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding as we look to restore their supplies as safely and as quickly as possible."
If you experience a power cut please call 105, the new national number for reporting power cuts and electricity emergencies.
SSEN is also encouraging customers to be prepared in the event of possible disruption to power supplies, by:
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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.
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Downloading SSEN's Power Track app to give you details of power cuts and restoration times.
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Going to SSEN's website where there is a wealth of advice and information on how to prepare for a possible loss of power.
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 to offer extra assistance, where required. People can qualify for the PSR if they:
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Are dependent on electricity for home medical care
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Have a chronic illness or short term medical condition
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Are disabled
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Have special communication needs
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Have a child under the age of 5 or receive a state pension.
To find out more about the PSR, click here or call 0800 294 3259.