Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) remains on standby to respond to any damage to its central southern England electricity network resulting from the impact of Storm Brian.

As of 12:30 today, SSEN has only experienced six faults across its central southern England network, affecting 1,314 customers with only 233 customers currently off supply. With wind gusts expected to peak between midday and 6pm this evening, SSEN is ensuring that its preparations and resources remain in place to deal with any issues that may affect its network.

SSEN's Director of Customer Operations, Craig Gilroy, said:

"Our network has stood up well to the initial impact of Storm Brian and with winds speeds predicted to peak this afternoon, we remain on high alert. I would like to reassure our customers that we are ready, well prepared and resourced to respond promptly to any damage to our network, where it is safe to do so."

"If any of our customers do experience a power cut, or have any concerns about a vulnerable family member or community member, I would encourage them to please call us on the new national emergency number, 105."

SSEN is also encouraging its customers not to approach any damage to its equipment and instead, report the damage by calling 105 and SSEN's engineers will investigate as soon as possible.

In advance of Storm Brian, which SSEN has been tracking and preparing for since Monday of this week, SSEN has increased its standby resources in anticipation of potential damage to its network, including moving engineers south from SSEN's north of Scotland network.

  • Over 800 engineers and support staff are on standby to respond to any damage to SSEN's network, where it is safe to do so
  • SSEN has increased its call handlers to over 150 across both days this weekend, four times the normal amount, to help ensure it can respond promptly to calls from its customers
  • Front line engineers, support staff, resources and equipment, such as mobile generation units, have been strategically moved to locations predicted to be affected by the high winds forecast
  • SSEN has proactively contacted 54,000 of its Priority Service Register customers to offer extra assistance where required
  • An extra 35 staff will be out in affected regions going door-to-door to provide information, reassurance and assistance to any customers requiring additional help
  • Eight catering units and SSEN welfare vans ready to be mobilised to areas without power in order to provide residents with food, drinks and charging facilities for laptops, phones and tablets
  • SSEN has also been liaising with local resilience partners to help coordinate efforts and ensure that everyone is prepared for any interruption to supplies should they occur

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 prepare for a possible loss of power.
  • 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.